Which of the following nuclides would you expect to be radioactive: 5826Fe, 6027Co, 9241Nb, mercury-202, radium-226? Justify your choices.

Question

Accepted Answer

Hey everyone, we're asked to identify whether the following new Clyde is stable or radioactive. Starting off with platinum 1 96. Now, if we look at our periodic table, we find that it has an atomic number of 78. And as we've learned if the new glide is on the band of stability, it is stable. But if it's neutron to proton ratio is too high or too low or if its atomic number is greater than 83 then our new glide is radioactive. So first let's go ahead and determine our number of neutrons. To calculate the number of neutrons, we can simply take our mass number and subtract our atomic number and this gets us to a value of 1:18. As we can see right here, we have an even number of protons and neutrons. So this means we have a stable neutron to proton ratio. Next looking at francy um 2 24. When we look at our periodic table, we find that it has an atomic number of 87. And as we've said before, if our atomic number is greater than 83, this means that our new Clyde is going to be radioactive. Next looking at our copper, we have An atomic number of 29 and a mass number of 64. So when we calculate the number of neutrons, we simply take our 64 and subtract our 29 which gets us to a value of 35. And as we can see right here, we have an odd number of protons and of neutrons, which means that we have a radioactive new Clyde. Next looking at our nickel, We have a mass number of 60 And an atomic number of 28. So when we calculate the number of neutrons, we get our 60 and subtract our 28, which gets us to a value of 32. Again, we have that even number of protons and neutrons, which tells us that we have a stable neutron to proton ratio. And lastly looking at our techno T um We have a mass number of 98 And an atomic number of 43. So when we calculate the number of neutrons, We're going to take our 98 and subtract our 43, which gets us to a value of 55. As we can see right here, we have an odd number of protons and an odd number of neutrons, which means we have a radioactive new glide. So these would be the reasons why each new glide is considered stable or radioactive. Now, I hope that made sense. And let us know if you have any questions

Which of the following nuclides would you expect to be radioactive: 5826Fe, 6027Co, 9241Nb, mercury-202, radium-226? Justify your choices.

Verified Solution

Key Concepts

Nuclear Stability

Types of Radioactive Decay

Isotopes and Their Stability