Types of Radioactive Decay

Radioactivity and Radiometric Dating

Atomic structure reviewed
Atomic number
An element’s identifying number
Number of protons in the atom’s nucleus
Mass number
Number of protons plus (added to) the number of neutrons in an atom’s nucleus
Isotope
Variant of the same parent atom
Different number of neutrons and mass number

Radioactivity
Spontaneous breaking apart (decay) of atomic nuclei
Radioactive decay
Parent – an unstable isotope
Daughter products – isotopes formed from the decay of a parent

Radioactivity
Radioactive decay
Types of radioactive decay
Alpha emission
Beta emission
Electron capture

Radiometric dating
Half-life – the time for one-half of the radioactive nuclei to decay
Requires a closed system
Cross-checks are used for accuracy
Complex procedure
Yields numerical dates