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vee-bee
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How are Madame Curie's notebooks still radioactively dangerous when Hiroshima is not?
The explosion at Hiroshima was an airburst, some much of the U-235 and fission products were vaporized in the atmosphere, and they would have drifted away to the ocean. Much of the contaminated areas were exposed to rain, so the rain would wash away the debris. Otherwise the debris would have been buried or moved to some other area. Likely most radionuclides formed from neutron absorption would have been short-lived and would have decayed by now.vee-bee said:How are Madame Curie's notebooks still radioactively dangerous when Hiroshima is not?
Radioactive decay is the process by which an unstable atomic nucleus loses energy by emitting ionizing particles or radiation. This results in the formation of a more stable nucleus.
The main types of radioactive decay are alpha decay, beta decay, gamma decay, and electron capture. There are also less common types such as positron emission and neutron emission.
In alpha decay, an alpha particle, which is made up of two protons and two neutrons, is emitted from the nucleus of an atom. This reduces the atomic number by 2 and the mass number by 4.
In beta decay, a neutron in the nucleus is transformed into a proton and an electron. The electron is ejected from the nucleus, while the proton remains in the nucleus. This can result in either beta minus decay (emission of an electron) or beta plus decay (emission of a positron).
Gamma decay is the emission of high energy photons from the nucleus of an atom. Unlike alpha and beta decay, it does not result in a change in the atomic or mass number of the atom. Gamma decay typically occurs after alpha or beta decay to release excess energy.