What keeps a nucleus together?
The strong nuclear force. At extremely short range, it is stronger than electrostatic repulsion, and allows protons to stick together in a nucleus even though their charges repel each other.
Why do unstable nuclei decay?
Every atom seeks to be as stable as possible. In the case of radioactive decay, instability occurs when there is an imbalance in the number of protons and neutrons in the atomic nucleus. If the nucleus of an atom is unstable, eventually it will break apart to lose at least some of the particles that make it unstable.
What is spontaneous decay?
Spontaneous fission, type of radioactive decay in which certain unstable nuclei of heavier elements split into two nearly equal fragments (nuclei of lighter elements) and liberate a large amount of energy. …
Is random the same as spontaneous?
As adjectives the difference between random and spontaneous is that random is having unpredictable outcomes and, in the ideal case, all outcomes equally probable; resulting from such selection; lacking statistical correlation while spontaneous is self-generated; happening without any apparent external cause.
What is random decay in physics?
Radioactive decay is the random process in which a nucleus loses energy by emitting radiation. This is usually in the form of alpha particles (Helium nuclei), beta particles (electrons or positrons), or gamma rays (high energy photons).
What is the difference between spontaneous and random decay?
4 Answers. I believe spontaneous means it happens on its own. You don’t need any outside influence to get the isotope to decay. Random means one cannot know precisely when the next decay will happen, though one can predict the probability of such events occurring in some time interval.
What are the three basic radioactive decay process?
A material containing unstable nuclei is considered radioactive. Three of the most common types of decay are alpha decay, beta decay, and gamma decay, all of which involve emitting one or more particles or photons.