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What makes something radioactive?


Question asked by: mrquestion

Asked on: 04 Feb 2010

Something is radioactive if the nucleus is not fully stable.

This happens when atoms get to a certain size and are very big at the nuclear level, so they are heavy like uranium for instance.

What happens is that nuclear fission occurs, there are various forms of radioactivity such as alpha, beta and gamma forms of radiation and the mechanism is slightly different but all result in a change in the nuclear composition and therefore the identity of the element, with something emitted in the form of radiation.

By: knowitall
Replied at: 04 Feb 2010
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