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Carbon Dating

As isotopes break down, or decay they give off radiation. Materials that decompose in this way are said to have a 'half-life'. As the quantity of material present decreases, so does the actual rate at which the material decays. The process of dating artifacts by radioactive C-14 measurement depends strictly upon this condition. Using C-14 ...

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CarbonDating
Astronomy

Nursery of Giants Captured in New Spitzer Image

Typically, the bigger something is the easier it is to find. Elephants, for example, are not hard to spot. But when it comes to the massive stars making up the stellar nursery called DR21, size does ... Continue reading

GiantsSpitzerImage
Physics

Coming In Strong On Your AM Dial

The AM radio dial would be nothing but chaos and noise without a very basic rule - turn down the power at night. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) controls and regulates the airwaves in the ... Continue reading

AMRadioWaves
Medicine

What is Asthma?

In many people, asthma appears to be an allergic reaction to substances commonly breathed in through the air, such as animal dander, pollen, or dust mite and cockroach waste products. The catch-all ... Continue reading

WhatisAsthma
Biology

An Invasion of Infiltrators

Why might a species be invasive in one country but not a big problem in its native land? As an example, consider a plant that is a major weed in the U.S. but in its native land it may be a minor pest. ... Continue reading

Infiltrators

Radioactive Radon

RadioactiveRadonRadon is a gas produced by the radioactive decay of the element radium. Radioactive decay is a natural, spontaneous process in which an atom of one element decays or breaks down to form another element by losing atomic particles (protons, neutrons, or electrons). When solid radium decays to form radon gas, it loses two protons and two neutrons. These two protons and two neutrons are called an alpha particle, which is a type of radiation. The elements that produce radiation are called radioactive. Radon itself is radioactive because it also decays, losing an alpha particle and forming the element polonium.

The decay of each radioactive element occurs at a very specific rate. How fast an element decays is measured in terms of the element 'half-life', or the amount of time for one half of a given amount of the element to decay. Uranium has a half-life of 4.4 billion years, so a 4.4-billion-year-old rock has only half of the uranium with which it started. The half-life of radon is only 3.8 days. If a jar was filled with radon, in 3.8 days only half of the radon would be left. But the newly made daughter products of radon would also be in the jar, including polonium, bismuth, and lead. Polunium is also radioactive - it is this element, which is produced by radon in the air and in people's lungs, that can hurt lung tissue and cause lung cancer.