Section 2
Radioactivity
By Boundless
![Thumbnail](../../../../../../figures.boundless-cdn.com/16968/square/-radiation-atlas-of-europe.jpeg)
Detectable amounts of radioactive material occurs naturally in soil, rocks, water, air, and vegetation.
![Thumbnail](../../../../../../figures.boundless-cdn.com/16993/square/800px-detectors-summary-3.jpg)
A radiation detector is a device used to detect, track, or identify high-energy particles.
![Thumbnail](../../../../../../figures.boundless-cdn.com/16967/raw/ctive-decay-chains-diagram.jpg)
Radioactive decay series describe the decay of different discrete radioactive decay products as a chained series of transformations.
![Thumbnail](../../../../../../figures.boundless-cdn.com/30962/raw/alpha-decay.jpg)
In alpha decay an atomic nucleus emits an alpha particle and transforms into an atom with smaller mass (by four) and atomic number (by two).
![Thumbnail](../../../../../../figures.boundless-cdn.com/16961/raw/beta-minus-decay.jpg)
Beta decay is a type of radioactive decay in which a beta particle (an electron or a positron) is emitted from an atomic nucleus.
![Thumbnail](../../../../../../figures.boundless-cdn.com/16962/raw/cobalt-60-decay-scheme.jpg)
Gamma decay is a process of emission of gamma rays that accompanies other forms of radioactive decay, such as alpha and beta decay.
![Thumbnail](../../../../../../figures.boundless-cdn.com/16974/raw/bon-14-formation-and-decay.jpg)
Carbon-14 dating is a radiometric dating method that uses the radioisotope carbon-14 (14C) to estimate the age of object.
![Thumbnail](../../../../../../figures.boundless-cdn.com/30628/square/halflife-sim.gif)
The half-life of a radionuclide is the time taken for half the radionuclide's atoms to decay.