1.

State the Radioactivity.

Answer»

Radioactivity is the phenomenon in which nuclei of a given species transform by giving out a or b or g rays; a-rays are helium nuclei; b-rays are electrons. g-rays are electromagnetic radiation of wavelengths shorter than X-rays; 

A. H. Becquerel discovered radioactivity in 1896 purely by accident. Experiments performed subsequently showed that radioactivity was a nuclear phenomenon in which an unstable nucleus undergoes a decay. This is referred to as radioactive decay. 

Three types of radioactive decay occur in nature : 

(i) α-decay in which a helium nucleus 42He is emitted; 

(ii) β-decay in which electrons or positrons (particles with the same mass as electrons, but with a charge exactly opposite to that of electron) are emitted; 

(iii) γ-decay in which high energy (hundreds of keV or more) photons are emitted. Each of these decay will be considered in subsequent sub-sections. 



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