Radioactive decay
Radioactive decay, or radioactive decay, is the process by which an unstable nucleus spontaneously loses energy through the release of ionized particles and radiation. This collapse, or loss of energy, converts one kind of atom into another. Here, the original atom is called the parent nuclide, and the converted atom is called the daughter nucleus. For example, a carbon-14 atom emits radiation and is converted to a nitrogen-14 atom. Because it is a random process at the atomic level, it is impossible to predict when one atom will collapse, but the average rate of decay is predictable for a large number of homologous atoms. The SI unit of this action is becquerel. 1Bq is defined as one conversion per second. Since a sample of the appropriate size of radioactive material contains many atoms, 1 Bq is a very small measurand for decay. Therefore, the amount of GBq or TBq is mainly used. The other unit of radioactivity is Curie, which is the amount of radium-e-nadithine in equilibrium with pure 1 g of pure radium-226.