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Radioactive Decay Chains

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The Discovery of Isotopes

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Abstract

Unique decay characteristics of the first isotopes were measured before the concept of isotopes was developed. The chapter describes the first observations of radioactivity and the subsequent classifications into decay chains leading to Soddy’s periodic law of the radio-elements. The discovery of all isotopes of the three naturally occurring decay chains are described.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    In modern nomenclature the element is uniquely identified by its symbol corresponding to a specific number of protons (Z). The superscript indicates the mass number (A) of the isotope. The number of neutrons can then be calculated as N \(=\) A−Z.

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  1. Department of Physics and Astronomy, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA

    Michael Thoennessen

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  1. Michael Thoennessen
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Correspondence to Michael Thoennessen .

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Thoennessen, M. (2016). Radioactive Decay Chains. In: The Discovery of Isotopes. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31763-2_2

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