Write For Us

Why Does Everything Decay Into Lead

Sponsored Post Vitamin D2 Canada Persia
53 Views
Published
If you look at a copy of the periodic table, you might notice that basically every element after lead is labelled as radioactive. And the vast majority of those elements wind up decaying into some version of lead eventually. But why is lead so special?

Hosted by: Reid Reimers
----------
Support SciShow by becoming a patron on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/scishow
----------
Huge thanks go to the following Patreon supporters for helping us keep SciShow free for everyone forever: Adam Brainard, Alex Hackman, Ash, Benjamin Carleski, Bryan Cloer, charles george, Chris Mackey, Chris Peters, Christoph Schwanke, Christopher R Boucher, DrakoEsper, Eric Jensen, Friso, Garrett Galloway, Harrison Mills, J. Copen, Jaap Westera, Jason A Saslow, Jeffrey Mckishen, Jeremy Mattern, Kenny Wilson, Kevin Bealer, Kevin Knupp, Lyndsay Brown, Matt Curls, Michelle Dove, Piya Shedden, Rizwan Kassim, Sam Lutfi
----------
Looking for SciShow elsewhere on the internet?
SciShow Tangents Podcast: https://scishow-tangents.simplecast.com/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@scishow
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/scishow
Instagram: http://instagram.com/thescishow
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/scishow

#SciShow #science #education #learning #complexly
----------
Sources:

Sources
https://www.epa.gov/radiation/radioactive-decay
https://www.britannica.com/science/radioactive-series
https://www.britannica.com/science/magic-number-atomic-structure
https://www.britannica.com/science/spontaneous-fission
https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/1963/ceremony-speech/
https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/1963/mayer/facts/
https://www.aps.org/publications/apsnews/200808/physicshistory.cfm
https://www.energy.gov/science/np/articles/magic-gone-neutron-number-32
https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1765480
https://home.cern/news/news/physics/potassium-nucleus-loses-some-its-magic
https://phys.org/news/2013-10-evidence-nuclear-magic.html
https://www.nature.com/articles/nature12226
https://www.hep.phy.cam.ac.uk/~chpotter/particleandnuclearphysics/Lecture_14_StructureOfNuclei.pdf
http://nrv.jinr.ru/karpov/publications/Karpov12_IJMPE.pdf
https://newscenter.lbl.gov/2009/09/24/114-confirmed/
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/282806685_A_beachhead_on_the_island_of_stability
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41567-020-01136-5
https://www.arpansa.gov.au/understanding-radiation/what-is-radiation/ionising-radiation/alpha-particles#:~:text=An%20alpha%2Dparticle%20is%20identical,rays%20were%20identified%20soon%20after.
https://www.atomicarchive.com/science/physics/beta-decay.html#:~:text=Negative%20beta%20decay%20is%20far%20more%20common%20than%20positive%20beta%20decay.&text=This%20form%20of%20radioactive%20decay,not%20observed%20until%20the%201960s.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/chemistry/decay-series
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/medicine-and-dentistry/neptunium-237
https://physicsworld.com/a/bismuth-breaks-half-life-record-for-alpha-decay/
https://ch302.cm.utexas.edu/nuclear/radioactivity/selector.php?name=band-stability#:~:text=Their%20stability%20is%20determined%20by,for%20the%20very%20heavy%20elements.
https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/lists/nobel-prize-awarded-women/
https://inspirehep.net/files/5b864f8e0ce7a7963b1e825cf181905e
https://www.angelo.edu/faculty/kboudrea/periodic/physical_abundances.htm
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF01406719
https://www.acs.org/molecule-of-the-week/archive/o/oganesson.html


www.gettyimages.com
http://tinyurl.com/2p8ah6x6
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nucleus_drawing.svg#/media/File:Nucleus_drawing.svg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Joseph_Wright_of_Derby_The_Alchemist.jpg#/media/File:Joseph_Wright_of_Derby_The_Alchemist.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thorium-232#/media/File:Decay_Chain_Thorium.svg
http://tinyurl.com/2pd4v9na
http://tinyurl.com/8bx9cxnc
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_shell_model#/media/File:Shells.png
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Eugene_Wigner_receiving_Medal_for_Merit_cph.3a38621.jpg#/media/File:Eugene_Wigner_receiving_Medal_for_Merit_cph.3a38621.jpg
http://tinyurl.com/pptzst6s
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wigner.jpg#/media/File:Wigner.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Goeppert_Mayer#/media/File:Maria_Goeppert-Mayer.jpg
http://tinyurl.com/yc3c6s7m
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Potassium.JPG#/media/File:Potassium.JPG
http://tinyurl.com/ymb7t9j3
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Electron_Configuration_of_the_First_20_Elements_of_Periodic_Table_-_Chemistry_for_All_-_FuseSchool.webm
Category
Science
Tags
SciShow, science, Hank
Sign in or sign up to post comments.
Be the first to comment