Why exactly do radioactive elements decay in half every set amount of time? What is happening on an atomic scale?
In: Physics
It’s not exactly a set process.
Think of it like this; you have 100 apples, and every minute you have a 50/50 chance of selling one apple.
The half life is how long *on average* it takes to sell half of your apples.
In a similar fashion, radioactive materials have a chance to lose electrons and break down into other materials. This loss of electrons is what we call radiation.
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