About 599 results
Open links in new tab
  1. Radioactive isotope | Description, Uses, & Examples | Britannica

    A radioactive isotope, also known as a radioisotope, radionuclide, or radioactive nuclide, is any of several species of the same chemical element with different masses whose nuclei are …

  2. Radioactivity | Definition, Types, Applications, & Facts | Britannica

    Dec 6, 2025 · The emissions of the most common forms of spontaneous radioactive decay are the alpha (α) particle, the beta (β) particle, the gamma (γ) ray, and the neutrino.

  3. Radium | Description, Properties, Symbol, Uses, & Facts | Britannica

    Dec 6, 2025 · Radium is a radioactive chemical element that is the heaviest of the alkaline-earth metals of the periodic table. Radium is a silvery white metal that does not occur free in nature.

  4. Neptunium | Radioactive, Fissionable, Transuranic | Britannica

    Since only two of the transuranium elements have been found in nature (neptunium and plutonium) and those only in trace amounts, the synthesis of these elements through nuclear …

  5. Plutonium | Radioactive Element, Nuclear Fuel | Britannica

    Dec 5, 2025 · Plutonium (Pu), radioactive chemical element of the actinoid series of the periodic table, atomic number 94. It is the most important transuranium element because of its use as …

  6. Physical science - Radioactivity, Transmutation, Elements | Britannica

    Physical science - Radioactivity, Transmutation, Elements: The discovery of radioactivity by the French physicist Henri Becquerel in 1896 is generally taken to mark the beginning of 20th …

  7. Curium | Radioactive, Synthetic, Actinide | Britannica

    All of its isotopes are radioactive. For chemical research, curium-242 (163-day half-life) has been supplanted by curium-244 (18.1-year half-life) and the still longer-lived isotope curium-248, …

  8. Pitchblende | Radioactive, Uranium, Thorium | Britannica

    Three chemical elements were first discovered in pitchblende: uranium by the German chemist Martin Klaproth in 1789, and polonium and radium by the French scientists Pierre and Marie …

  9. Uranium | Definition, Properties, Uses, & Facts | Britannica

    Dec 13, 2025 · It is now known that uranium, radioactive in all its isotopes, consists naturally of a mixture of uranium-238 (99.27 percent, 4,510,000,000-year half-life), uranium-235 (0.72 …

  10. Lead - Heavy, Toxic, Dense | Britannica

    Jan 7, 2026 · More than 30 radioactive isotopes have been reported. Of the radioactive isotopes of lead, the following appear as members of the three natural decay series: (1) thorium series: …