The nucleus contains protons and neutrons; the electromagnetic force pushes the protons apart because they have the same charge, but the strong nuclear force pulls the protons and neutrons together. WHAT MAKES A SUBSTANCE RADIOACTIVE? And any nuclides which is unstable to at least one decay mode in the ground state is unstable. Every chemical element has one or more radioactive isotopes. Radioactive isotopes naturally occur in clay at the rate of about 4 pCi/g for uranium isotopes, 3 pCi/g for thorium isotopes, and 8 pCi/g of potassium-40. An artist’s conception of a super Venus planet on the left and a super Earth on the right. Its most characteristic property is its intense radioactivity, which causes compounds of the element to display a faint bluish glow in the dark. Nuclear stability is a complicated balance of multiple forces, but any given nuclide is unstable to a given decay mode if the decay is energetically possible. element is a word that embraces everything and descriminates against nothing. that is why the company was created, as for what makes an element radioactive i do not know but i will find out because now im wondering myself. Radioactivity is the random spontaneous disintegration of an atom of an element. These isotopes are called radioactive isotopes. Phosphorus as found in nature [Phosphorus-31] is not actually radioactive at all. In this context, stable is the opposite of radioactive. The nuclei in which the number of neutrons is more than the number of protons are unstable. Elements can be made up of different isotopes. everyone and everything is an element. Atomic nuclei contain protons and neutrons. A researcher at Oak Ridge Associate Universities once calculated American consumers buy 50,000 pounds of uranium and 120,000 pounds of thorium in the form of cat litter each and every year. Why are only certain elements radioactive ? All elements have radioactive isotopes. Radium is a silvery white metal that does not occur free in nature. An element is radioactive if its atomic nuclei are unstable. Some elements do not have any stable isotopes. The stability of a nucleus depends upon the number of protons and neutrons are nearly equal, then the nucleus is stable. Whether a particular element is stable or not depends on the number of neutrons in the nucleus. ... A number of elements have atoms or nuclei which are unstable and consequently split up to form smaller atoms. Sometimes isotopes are stable and happy. A new hypothesis looks at the presence of radioactive elements as an important factor in making a solar system habitable. However, some isotopes are unstable. These are the elements that we see around us and find in nature. Radium, radioactive chemical element, the heaviest of the alkaline-earth metals of the periodic table. Isotopes are atoms with the same number of protons and electrons, but a different number of neutrons. But, apparently, a lot of people think it is, so an explanation seems in order. The question of what makes one planet habitable and one uninhabitable is a focus of many astrobiology researchers. If the carbon nucleus also contains six or seven neutrons, it will be stable: hence carbon-12 and carbon-13 are not radioactive. An element is “radioactive” if all of its isotopes are unstable. For example, any nucleus with six protons is a carbon nucleus. 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