Do all elements decay?

All elements with 84 or more protons are unstable; they eventually undergo decay. Other isotopes with fewer protons in their nucleus are also radioactive.

Will all atoms eventually decay?

No. Stable atoms do not decay. The only problem is that it is very difficult to tell whether a particular isotope is stable or just extremely long at decaying.

Why do some atoms decay?

Every atom seeks to be as stable as possible. In the case of radioactive decay, instability occurs when there is an imbalance in the number of protons and neutrons in the atomic nucleus. If the nucleus of an atom is unstable, eventually it will break apart to lose at least some of the particles that make it unstable.

Do elements disappear when they decay?

When a substance decays, it does not disappear. The nucleus does lose energy, and possibly some particles, but there is still at least one nucleus left after the decay.

What is particle decay and how does it work?

Particle decay is to particles as “dissipation” is to waves, which is something with which you are very familiar (though you may not know it yet — read on!) [ dissipate: to become scattered or dispersed; be dispelled; disintegrate: The sun shone and the mist dissipated.]

Can two particles with the same mass decay to different particles?

Therefore the decay is impossible unless the two particles have equal mass. But in this case, if particle 1 could decay to particle 2, the reverse would also be true: particle 2 could decay to particle 1. Well, that’s not a decay at all; it is a mixing between the two types of particles, which is a qualitatively different phenomenon.

How long does it take for protons to decay?

According to one idea, the Georgi–Glashow model , protons transition into a positron and a neutral pion, which then decays into 2 gamma ray photons. Estimates put the half-life for protons at 1.29×1034 years. That, if you don’t know, is a super long time; however, there is no experimental evidence to confirm proton decay.

Why are energy and momentum conserved in decay?

This is why every decay that we see in nature involves two or more particles emerging from a single one. It follows simply from the laws of nature that the total energy and total momentum must stay constant in any physical process (or as physicists say, “energy and momentum are conserved.”)