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Atoms & ionising radiation

Isotopes are different forms of the same element
1. Isotopes are atoms with same number of protons but different number of neutrons
  1. Hence the same atomic number but different mass numbers
    1. Atomic number is the atoms number of protons
    2. Mass number is the atoms' protons + neutrons
2. Isotope example - carbon 12 & carbon 14:
3. Most elements have different isotopes but usually there's only one or two stable ones
  1. The other isotopes tend to be radioactive so decay into other elements and give out radiation
    1. Radioactivity is a random process
      1. Radioactive substances give out radiation from their atoms nuclei - no matter what's done to them
        This process is entirely random and means if you have 1000 unstable nuclei you don't know when a single one will decay and neither can you cause a decay
        Totally unaffected by physical conditions such as temperature or any sort of chemical bonding etc
        Radioactive substances give out one or more of the three types of radiation(alpha, beta or gamma)
Background radiation - Radiation that's always present, all around us comes from:
1. Radioactivity of naturally unstable isotopes - in the air, in food and in rocks under are feet; literally all around us
2. Radiation from space, known as cosmic rays these mostly come from the sun
3. Radiation due to man-made sources E.G fallout from nuclear weapon testing, nuclear accidents(chernobyl) or dumped nuclear waste

Atoms & ionising radiation

	Created by Jack Willepotte over 8 years ago