Abstract
Approximately 1800 nuclides have been discovered thus far, and the majority of them are unstable. Unstable nuclei decay by spontaneous fission, a-particle, β-particle, or γ-ray emission, or electron capture, in order to achieve stability. The stability of a nuclide is governed by the structural arrangement and binding energy of the nucléons in the nucleus. One criterion of stability is the neutron-to-proton ratio (N/Z) of the stable nuclides; the radionuclides decay to achieve the N/Z of the nearest possible stable nuclide. Radioactive decay by particle emission or electron capture changes the atomic number of the radionuclide, whereas decay by x-ray emission does not.
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Suggested Reading
Chase GD, Rabinowitz JL (1970) Principles of radioisotope methodology, 3rd ed. Burgess, Minneapolis
Friedlander G, Kennedy JW, Miller JM (1981) Nuclear and radiochemistry, 3rd ed. Wiley, New York
Sorensen JA, Phelpf ME (1980) Physics in nuclear medicine. Grune & Stratton. New York.
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© 1984 Springer Science+Business Media New York
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Saha, G.B. (1984). Radioactive Decay. In: Fundamentals of Nuclear Pharmacy. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-4024-0_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-4024-0_2
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4757-4026-4
Online ISBN: 978-1-4757-4024-0
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