How do scientists add neutrons to elements to turn them into different elements?
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If (say) you have a clump of Bismuth, and bombard it with neutrons, then some will get close enough to the nucleus to be captured by the strong nuclear forces.
For example, if Bismuth-209 is bombarded with neutrons, some of them will capture the neutrons to become Bismuth-210.
Obviously that’s still Bismuth, but the difference is that Bismuth-209 is (for all practical purposes) stable, but Bismuth-210 is not. Bismuth-210 will decay to Polonium-210 within a week or so, which in turn decays to Lead-206 within a number of months.
And so, by bombarding the Bismuth with neutrons, some of it is turned into Lead.
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