Radioactive Isotopes

• Radioactive isotopes


  Nuclei of some isotopes that are unstable and spontaneously undergo radioactive decay, ejecting small particles and radiation to become more stable
• Radioactive decay


  1. Ejection of small particles and radiation

  2. Production of atoms of one or more different elements
• Half-life


  Time taken for half of the nuclei in a sample of a radioactive isotope to undergo radioactive decay
• Uses of radioactive isotopes

  • Carbon 14 dating
  • Cancer treatment
  • Energy generation
  • Tracers
  • Heart pacemakers