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Why is radioactivity considered to be a nuclear phenomenon?

Answer»

Radioactivity is the spontaneous emission of energy from unstable atoms. As you know atoms are found in all matter. There are stable atoms, which remain the same always, and unstable atoms, which break down or 'decay' into new atoms. These unstable atoms are said to be 'radioactive', because they emit radioactivity from the nucleus as they decay. The phenomenon of radioactivity is observed in heavy elements such as uranium. Antoine Henri Becquerel, a French scientist discovered radioactivity in 1896 by chance while performing an experiment. So radioactivity refers to the particles which are emitted from nuclei as a result of nuclear instability.

The subatomic particles ejected naturally in radioactivity are present inside the nucleus no oxidation or other such physical process can affect the phenomenon since they change the outer electron and not the nucleus so radioactivity can only be called a nuclear phenomenon



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