Radioactivity, alpha, beta, and gamma decay

Ernst Rutherford was a scientist who studied the absorption of radioactive rays by using thin metal foil sheets in 1899. Based on this observation, he found two major radiations named alpha radiation and beta radiation. Every radiation has its capabilities of passing through the foil sheets. Later, he also observed a third radiation named beta […]

What is Radioactivity Unstable atomic nuclei disintegrate spontaneously to form more stable nuclei. This process of decomposition is known as radioactivity. Radiation refers to the energy and particles emitted during the breakdown process. In other words, they are the particles emitted from the nuclei due to nuclear instability.  Natural radioactivity is the process through which

Atoms are the fundamental units of matter, which have a compact nucleus made up of neutral neutrons and positively charged protons. Despite being much smaller and lighter than protons, electrons are negatively charged and surround the nucleus. In terms of the total charge of the atom, an equal number of protons and electrons cancel each

The alpha-particle scattering experiment is an important experiment that led Rutherford to give an accurate description of the distribution of positive and negative charges within the atom. Alpha particle source is placed in the lead cavity. The alpha particles emitted by the source are collimated into a narrow beam with the help of lead and

Radioactive decay is the process of decomposition of the atomic nuclei, which are in unstable form and get converted into the stable form of the atomic nuclei with the emission of high energy particles in the form of energy. This type of decay process is a first-order process with a statistically random order in which

It’s very important to know and understand what Alpha is. Alpha, basically is a particle, and we call it an Alpha particle or an alpha radiation or alpha rays. It contains two neutrons and two protons enclosed together in an atom, identical to a helium-4 nucleus. Generally, they are produced in the alpha decay process,

In the year 1932, British physicist Sir James Chadwick conducted an experiment that led to the discovery of neutrons. He bombarded beryllium with alpha particles from the natural radioactive decay of polonium. This resulted in radiation that showed high penetration through a lead shield. Unfortunately, this could not be explained with the help of known

In 1911, British physician Ernest Rutherford performed a gold foil experiment. He used this to understand the structure of an atom. Ernest Rutherford carried out the experiment along with Hans Geiger and Ernest Marstden. It helped accurately understand the composition of an atom. Ernest Rutherford also received the Nobel Prize for identifying alpha particles with

What is a cyclotron? A cyclotron is a device which is used to accelerate charged particles. The main advantage of a cyclotron device over linear particle accelerators is that it uses the same acceleration gap many times. This ability makes it able to save a lot of space and therefore the cost. The high energy

α-particle decay occurs when a parent nucleus releases an α particle (a nucleus of helium) with two neutrons and protons. The decay product’s charge on nucleus Z is two units minus the parent’s. Its nuclear mass A is four mass number units minus the parent’s because they expelled this quantity of nuclear charge, and mass