Saved Bookmarks
| 1. |
The half-lives of radioactive nuclides that emit alpha-rays very formmicrosecond to billion years. What is the reason for this large variation in the life of alpha emitters? |
| Answer» Solution :The radioactive decay is governed by the law of mass action. There is absolutely no way to predict WHETHER any given nucleus in a radioactive sample will be among the small number of NUCLEI that decay during the next moment. All nuclei have the same probability of disintegration. Therefore, half lives of radioactive nuclides that emite `alpha` particle MAY be in microseconds. HOWEVER, half lives for alpha decay of most of the alpha UNSTABLE nuclei are very long. This has been explaind in terms to tunnelling of nucleus. | |