Chemical Forums
Chemistry Forums for Students => High School Chemistry Forum => Topic started by: samsung on December 10, 2006, 04:55:31 PM
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on this review question
the rate of radioactive decay process depends on:
1. identity of the nuclide
2. ionic charge
3. chemical bonding present
4. temperature of the system
I don't think it is temperature/chemical bonding.
please help me on this review question.
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http://creationontheweb.com/content/view/1608
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Sorry if I am wrong but as far as I remember I read in a book that "Radioactive decay occurs randomly in time and space and physical properties do not affect it." So I think temperature would not affect radioactive decay.
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I'm guessing, since the original post was in 2006, the person who asked has either figured it out on their own, or given up. ;)
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Sorry didn't look at the time of the post. Although this might be helpful to other members who are new and haven't seen this post.
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Sorry didn't look at the time of the post.
Nothing personal with the "thread necromancy", there's just been a rash of it lately, and I'd like everyone to keep it in mind.
Although this might be helpful to other members who are new and haven't seen this post.
Absolutely, keep on, keepin' on.
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I feel that only the first statement is true. Radioactivity emanates from the nucleus, so even bonding does no effect it. I think that there is a principle in RadioChem, bonding elements/chemicals to a radioactive isotope and using it as a tracer...the radioisotope that is.
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I wonder... if the temperature goes up to mega Kelvins situation may change, it won't be strange if exctied nuclides will behave differently.
Hopefully Mitch will be able to add something.
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The answer to the question is of course 1.
However there are very-very-very subtle effects one can do with ionic charge and chemical bonding. For instance, one type of beta-decay is called electron capture and it involves the nucleus capturing one of it's orbital electrons. Thus converting a proton to a neutron. So, if you play the chemistry game and use electron withdrawing ligands, you can modify the half-life. Usually you can change it by 1/1000th of it's original value, barely at all essentially but measurable.
If you were in the Mega Kelvin regime you won't have nuclear decay but nuclear reactions, as now there is enough energy available to fuse nuclei together.
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I am fairly sure that plasma has been admitted as a state of matter, and I once hypothesised that if radioactive waste were 'spun' to plasma state (in a tokamak [torroidial] reactor) that as the substance(s) attained plasma state they would shed the excess energy in the nucleus. I received a shock on the website I wrote that on, there was a reply that there is a bomb, called the W bomb (I assume this refers to W Bozons) that uses this concept. I know this is not strictly chemistry. I will try to stay within the realm of this website in the future.