Radioactivity is the ability of an atom to emit, or give off, charged particles and energy from the nucleus. The charged particles and energy are called by the general term radiation. Only unstable nuclei emit radiation. When they do, they gain or lose protons. Then the atoms become different elements. (Be careful not to confuse this radiation with electromagnetic radiation, which has to do with the light given off by atoms as they absorb and then emit energy.) Radioactivity was discovered in 1896 by a French physicist named Antoine Henri Becquerel. Becquerel was experimenting with uranium, which glows after being exposed to sunlight. Becquerel wanted to see if the glow was caused by rays of energy, like rays of light and X-rays. He placed a bit of uranium on a photographic plate. The plate was similar to film thats used today to take X-rays. You can see an example of an X-ray in Figure 11.1. As Becquerel predicted, the uranium left an image on the photographic plate. This meant that uranium gives off rays after being exposed to sunlight. Becquerel was a good scientist, so he wanted to repeat his experiment to confirm his results. He placed more uranium on another photographic plate. However, the day had turned cloudy, so he tucked the plate and uranium in a drawer to try again another day. He wasnt expecting the uranium to leave an image on the plate without being exposed to sunlight. To his surprise, there was an image on the plate in the drawer the next day. Becquerel had discovered that uranium gives off rays without getting energy from light. He had discovered radioactivity, for which he received a Nobel prize. To learn more about the importance of Becquerels research, go to this URL: [Link] Another scientist, who worked with Becquerel, actually came up with the term "radioactivity." The other scientist was the French chemist Marie Curie. She went on to discover the radioactive elements polonium and radium. She won two Nobel Prizes for her discoveries. You can learn more about Marie Curie at this URL: [Link] Isotopes are atoms of the same element that differ from each other because they have different numbers of neutrons. Many elements have one or more isotopes that are radioactive. Radioactive isotopes are called radioisotopes. An example of a radioisotope is carbon-14. All carbon atoms have 6 protons, and most have 6 neutrons. These carbon atoms are called carbon-12, where 12 is the mass number (6 protons + 6 neutrons). A tiny percentage of carbon atoms have 8 neutrons instead of the usual 6. These atoms are called carbon-14 (6 protons + 8 neutrons). The nuclei of carbon-14 are unstable because they have too many neutrons. To be stable, a small nucleus like carbon, with just 6 protons, must have a 1:1 ratio of protons to neutrons. In other words, it must have the same number of neutrons as protons. In a large nucleus, with many protons, the ratio must be 2:1 or even 3:1 protons to neutrons. In elements with more than 83 protons, all the isotopes are radioactive (see Figure 11.2). The force of repulsion among all those protons overcomes the strong force holding them together. This makes the nuclei unstable and radioactive. Elements with more than 92 protons have such unstable nuclei that these elements do not even exist in nature. They exist only if they are created in a lab. A low level of radiation occurs naturally in the environment. This is called background radiation. It comes from various sources. One source is rocks, which may contain small amounts of radioactive elements such as uranium. Another source is cosmic rays. These are charged particles that arrive on Earth from outer space. Background radiation is generally considered to be safe for living things. A source of radiation that may be more dangerous is radon. Radon is a radioactive gas that forms in rocks underground. It can seep into basements and get trapped inside buildings. Then it may build up and become harmful to people who breathe it. Other sources of radiation are described in the interactive animation at this URL: [Link] You may have seen a sign like
Output: Uranium can leave an image on a photographic plate because uranium