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===About Unstable Isotopes===
: An [[isotope]] may be '''unstable''' if it ::*It has too many, [[neutron]]s:*It has too few [[neutron]]s or the :*The [[Atomic Nucleus|nucleus]] is too [[massive]].:*It has excess [[Vibrational Energy|vibrational energy]].
: An '''unstable [[isotope]]''' may [[Radioactive Decay|decay]] causing it to transmute into a new [[element]] or a more [[Stable Isotope|stable isotope]] of the same [[element]] by releasing a [[particle]] from the [[Atomic Nucleus|nucleus]].
: An '''unstable [[isotope]]''' may be too [[massive]] so it can lose an [[Alpha Particle|alpha particle]] to become a less [[massive]] [[element]] or it can split into two smaller, more [[Stable Isotope|stable]] [[element]]s in a process called [[Nuclear Fission|nuclear fission]].
: An '''unstable [[isotope]]''' may be [[vibrate|vibrating]] with excess [[energy]] so to lose this [[energy]] it will [[emit]] [[Gamma Radiation|gamma radiation]].
{| class="wikitable"
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|[[File:NuclearKey.png|center|200px]]
|[[File:NeutronDecay3.png|center|300px]]
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| style="height:20px; width:300px; text-align:center;" |This is a key to show the types of [[particle]]s in the following [[Radioactive Decay|decays]] of [[Unstable Isotope|unstable nuclei]].
| style="height:20px; width:300px; text-align:center;" |This [[Atomic Nucleus|nucleus]] is [[Unstable Isotope|unstable]] because it has too many [[neutron]]s relative to [[proton]]s so it [[Radioactive Decay|decays]] via [[Neutron Radiation|neutron radiation]] reducing the [[Relative Atomic Mass|atomic mass]] by 1.
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|[[File:AlphaDecay3.png|center|300px]]
|[[File:BetaDecay3.png|center|300px]]
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| style="height:20px; width:300px; text-align:center;" |This [[Atomic Nucleus|nucleus]] is [[Unstable Isotope|unstable]] because it is too [[massive]] and has too few [[neutron]]s relative to [[proton]]s so it [[Radioactive Decay|decays]] via [[Alpha Radiation|alpha emission]] reducing the [[Relative Atomic Mass|atomic mass]] by 4 and the [[Atomic Number|atomic number]] by 2.
| style="height:20px; width:300px; text-align:center;" |This [[Atomic Nucleus|nucleus]] is [[Unstable Isotope|unstable]] because it is too many [[neutron]]s so it [[Radioactive Decay|decay]]s via [[Beta Radiation|beta emission]] in which a [[neutron]] turns into a [[proton]] increasing the [[Atomic Number|atomic number]] by 1.
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|[[File:GammaDecay3.png|center|300px]]
|[[File:Fission3.png|center|300px]]
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| style="height:20px; width:300px; text-align:center;" |This [[Atomic Nucleus|nucleus]] is [[Unstable Isotope|unstable]] because it is has excess [[Vibrational Energy|vibrational energy]] so it [[Radioactive Decay|decays]] by [[emit]]ting a [[Gamma Radiation|gamma ray]]. After the [[Radioactive Decay|decay]] it still has the same [[Relative Atomic Mass|atomic mass]] and [[Atomic Number|atomic number]] but is no longer [[vibrating]].
| style="height:20px; width:300px; text-align:center;" |This [[Atomic Nucleus|nucleus]] is [[Unstable Isotope|unstable]] because it is far too [[massive]] and has too many [[neutron]]s so it splits into two smaller, more [[Stable Isotope|stable]] [[element]]s and releases some [[neutron]]s. This is not a [[Radioactive Decay|radioactive decay]] and is referred to as [[Nuclear Fission|nuclear fission]].
|}