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Alpha decay go brrrrrrr (lemmy.nz)

submitted 11 months ago by fossilesque@mander.xyz to c/science_memes@mander.xyz

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[–] Iron_Lynx@lemmy.world 30 points 11 months ago (2 children)

So I ran the numbers. U-235 decays into Pb-207, which means about 12% of its mass is radiated away in alpha decay. Which sounds like a fuckton.

Also, it'll mean that that chunk of lead will be a touch heavier, at 13.2 lbs

The Maths:

U-235 decays into Pb-207. To three significant digits, 207/235 = 0.881, equivalent to 88.1%, meaning 11.9% is radiated away.
88.1% of 15 lbs = 13.2 lbs.

[–] ryannathans@aussie.zone 13 points 11 months ago

And that's ignoring spontaneous fission which is probably happening to some extent to some of the isotopes