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3 votes
What happens to a radioactive isotope as it decays? Does the radioactive material disappear? Explain

2 Answers

7 votes
when a radioactive isotope decays it decreases by half each time but it will never reach zero as you would see if you looked up a radioactive decay graph
Ex original amount - 24 grams
1 st decay - 12 grams
2nd decay- 6 grams
3rd decay 3 grams
4th decay- 1.5 grams
and it goes on forever and ever
answered
User Noor A Shuvo
by
8.3k points
4 votes
I think you are asking, what about the rest of the mass? The radioactive isotope decays into another element (such as Uranium decaying to Thorium or something similar) and a particle like alpha particle, beta particle, gamma ray, etc depending on the type of decay it is undergoing.
answered
User Karnok
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