RADIOACTIVITY.EU.COM

icon THE PHENOMENON

THE PHENOMENON

icon IN DAILY LIFE

IN DAILY LIFE

icon QUESTION OF DOSES

QUESTION OF DOSES

icon AT THE DOCTOR’S

AT THE DOCTOR’S

icon At the laboratory

At the laboratory

icon At the museum

At the museum

icon NUCLEAR ENERGY

NUCLEAR ENERGY

icon RADIOACTIVE WASTE

RADIOACTIVE WASTE

A general public knowledge base dedicated to radioactivity created and maintained by the french physics community

Isotopes are atoms that differ only in the number of neutrons of their nuclei. Isotopes have the same chemical and atomic properties. On the contrary, the nuclear properties are different because the number of neutrons affects the stability of the nucleus. For example, the carbon atom with 6 neutrons is stable, while the carbon atom with 8 neutrons is radioactive. The majority of atoms found in nature are stable isotopes. Radioactive isotopes, much more numerous, have usually disappeared because of their instability. They can be recreated artificially, for example for medical applications.

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