If radioactive elements decay over time, and after turning into other radioactive elements one day turn into a stable element (e.g. Uranium -> Radium -> Radon -> Polonium -> Lead): Does this mean one day there will be no radioactive elements left on earth?

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If radioactive elements decay over time, and after turning into other radioactive elements one day turn into a stable element (e.g. Uranium -> Radium -> Radon -> Polonium -> Lead): Does this mean one day there will be no radioactive elements left on earth?

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Anonymous 0 Comments

Eventually, yes, but not on the timescale you’re thinking of.

The earth will be long gone (and absorbed by the sun) before we run out of radioactive elements in the solar system.

Heck, the sun will have likely turned into what… a brown dwarf before then?

Eventually, yes, the universe will run out of radioactive elements. But that’s only when it cools off enough to stop producing stars and therefore stop producing more of those elements.

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