Radioactivity

There are three terms used when talking about radioactive decay that sound similar, so we should make sure that we are careful when using them. Nucleons are the protons and neutrons. Nuclide refers to the isotopes of an element. For example, there are different nuclides of Uranium each with a different number of neutrons. You should remember that the number of protons determines what type of element the atom is.  Nucleus is the dense region at the center of an atom that contains the nucleons.

All the nucleons are normally in the nucleus, but a nuclide refers to the entire atom.

Marie Curie coined the term “radioactivity” and shared the 1903 Nobel Prize in Physics with her husband, Pierre Curie for their work on radioactivity. She also received a Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1911 for the discovery of Radium and Polonium. A unit of radioactivity, the Curie, is named after her.

 

 

 

 

What is radioactivity?

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Radioactivity Practice

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