What is the decay process of plutonium-238?

What is the decay process of plutonium-238?

Pu-238 decays by alpha emission, generating heat as the alpha particles interact with surrounding material. Alpha particles emitted by Pu-238 decay can be blocked by simple barriers such as a thin sheet of paper.

What is the nuclear equation for the decay of uranium-238?

(The numbers following the chemical names refer to the number of protons plus neutrons.) In this reaction, uranium-238 loses two protons and two neutrons to become the element thorium-234. The reaction can be represented by this nuclear equation: 23892U → 23490Th + 42He + Energy.

What is the alpha decay of plutonium-238?

Plutonium-238 naturally decays to uranium-234 and then further along the radium series to lead-206.

What is the decay constant of plutonium-238?

0.0079
Plutonium-238 has a half-life of 87.7 years and a decay constant (a measure of the fraction of Pu-238 atoms that will decay in a year) of 0.0079.

What happens when plutonium-239 decays?

For example, the decay products of plutonium-238 and plutonium-239 are uranium- 234 and uranium-235. The decay process continues until a stable, non-radioactive decay product is formed. Radiation is released during the decay process in the form of alpha and beta particles and gamma radiation.

What is the formula for alpha decay?

In alpha decay process, the parent isotope emits two protons and two neutrons (Z = 2 and A = 4), which is called an alpha particle (helium-4 nucleus) (Maher, 2004). The identity of the daughter isotope can be determined by Fig. 1.

What is the nuclear equation for the alpha decay of thorium 232?

The nucleus that decays is called the “parent” and the one that it tranforms into is called the “daughter.” Here are examples of alpha decay that you will find in your text. 90-Th-232 —> 88-Ra-228 + 2-He-4.

Does plutonium-238 undergo alpha decay or beta decay?

Plutonium-238 is a very strong alpha particle emitter. Since the chances of getting other forms of more powerful and penetrating radiation are minimal, this isotope of Plutonium is used in radioisotope heater units and Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators (RTGs).

What type of decay is plutonium?

Alpha decay
Alpha decay, the release of a high-energy helium nucleus, is the most common form of radioactive decay for plutonium.

What decay is plutonium-239?

Plutonium-239 decays through spontaneous fission while emitting alpha particles.

What type of radiation is emitted when NP 239 decays into Pu 239?

The U-239, in turn, decays by emitting a beta particle to neptunium-239, which gives off another beta particle. Since each beta decay turns a neutron into a proton, these two beta decays suffice to turn a uranium atom into one of plutonium.

How much energy is released by radioactive decay of plutonium?

Plutonium-238 releases around 5.593 MeV of energy through radioactive decay. The alpha decomposition of Plutonium-238 is shown in the equation below: The helium nucleus 24 He in this reaction equation has got atomic number 2 and mass number 4. Helium here indicates the alpha particle.

How big is the density of plutonium 238?

Plutonium-238 is a very powerful alpha emitter; as alpha particles are easily blocked, this makes the plutonium-238 isotope suitable for usage in radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs) and radioisotope heater units. The density of plutonium-238 is 19.329 g/cm 3.

How is plutonium 238 prepared in a nuclear reactor?

Pure plutonium-238 is prepared by neutron irradiation of neptunium-237, one of the minor actinides that can be recovered from spent nuclear fuel during reprocessing, or by the neutron irradiation of americium in a reactor.

What is the binding energy of plutonium 238?

The binding energy per nucleon of Pu-238 is 7.568354 MeV. The specific activity SA of Plutonium-238 is 634 GBq/g. In radioactivity, the half-life is the time taken by a specific amount of a radioactive substance that undergoes decomposition to be decreased by half. The half-life for Plutonium-238 is 87.7 years.