Can you tell if an element is radioactive by looking at its place and atomic number on the periodic table?
Answer:
Snowy,
The answer is sort of "yes", and sort of "no". Here's the deal:
First, realize that it isn't really proper to call an element either radioactive or non-radioactive, because every element has different isotopes with different nuclear properties. EVERY element has radioactive isotopes if you add or take away enough nuetrons, but for the first 3/4 or so of the periodic table each element has a select few isotopes that are common in nature and very stable with respect to decay. Other istopes of these elements that stray from these common isotopes ARE radioactive. But in general, every element up through element 83 (Bismuth), with the exceptions of technetium and promethium, has stable isotopes and so in that sense are "not radioactive".
However, every element from 84 and up have NO stable isotopes, meaning that every single isotope of these elements is radioactive. So you could probably safely call these "radioactive elements".
In a sense, this is the division that you are probably looking for. But just remember that any element can be radioactive if you isolate a weird enough isotope! Hope this answers your questions,
mnrlboy
yes,
i forget how but there is definately a way.
nope.
u-235 is.
u=238 is not.
same place.
in general though, higher elements tend to be less stable.
Yes, generally everything above Lead (82 I think) is radioactive, whether it emits alpha, beta or gamma radiation. Everything eventually decomposes to lead.
No.
Hydrogen has radioactive isotopes, deuterium and tritium. Even U-238 is radioactive, albeit with a half-life of 4.5 billion years. Some are, some aren't
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