this post was submitted on 04 Oct 2023
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submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by xusontha@ls.buckodr.ink to c/196@lemmy.blahaj.zone
 

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[–] thisbejacob@lemm.ee 29 points 1 year ago

For the case of U-235, which undergoes alpha decay, when an atom radioactively decays 2 protons and 2 neutron, essentially a Helium atom, are ejected from the nucleus. What remains is Th-231. So if you have 10 lbs of U-235 and wait out it's half life, what you would have left is 5 lbs of U-235 and 4.915 lbs of Th-231 all mixed up and the remaining 0.085 lbs off somewhere as the He particles.