Certain isotopes are unstable and undergo a process of radioactive decay, slowly and steadily transforming, molecule by molecule, into a different isotope. This rate of decay is constant for a ...

Stable isotopes do not decay into other elements. In contrast, radioactive isotopes (e.g., 14C) are unstable and will decay into other elements. The less abundant stable isotope(s) of an element have ...

Isotopes of natural uranium decay by emitting mainly alpha particles ... become more important are ingestion of DU incorporated in drinking water and the food chain through migration from the soil or ...

giving off radiation and changing into a different isotope. The rate at which nuclei decay is constant. Half-life describes the interval of time during which half of the original atoms decay.