Nuclear Reactions Vocabulary

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Across
  1. 3. a technique used to determine how old a rock is by analyzing the amounts of a radioactive isotope and its decay products in the rock
  2. 8. a positively charged particle that is identical to the helium atom nucleus, with two protons and two neutrons, and is emitted from the radioactive decay of a nucleus
  3. 10. the unstable condition of a nucleus that causes it to emit particles and lose energy
  4. 11. the type of radioactive decay in which the nucleus of an atom is at too high an energy, resulting in a reduction of energy state and the emission of a high-energy photon
  5. 13. a nuclear reaction in which two lighter nuclei combine to form a single, heavier nucleus, and some of the original mass is converted to energy
  6. 14. ionizing electromagnetic radiation of very high frequency and energy that is emitted from the radioactive decay of a nucleus
  7. 15. the property of a nucleus to emit radiation and decay, or to not; a stable nucleus does not emit any radiation, while an unstable nucleus will always emit radiation.
  8. 16. a negatively charged electron that is emitted from the radioactive decay of a nucleus
Down
  1. 1. a nuclear reaction in which a heavy nucleus breaks into two lighter nuclei, releasing energy
  2. 2. energy in the form of oscillating electric and magnetic fields that is released in electromagnetic processes; characterized based on the frequency and wavelength of the oscillations as radio waves, microwaves, infrared radiation, visible light, ultraviolet radiation, X-rays, and gamma rays
  3. 4. radioactive decay in which an atomic nucleus emits an alpha particle, reducing the mass number by four and the atomic number by two
  4. 5. the time required for half the nuclei in a sample of a specific isotopic species to undergo radioactive decay
  5. 6. the type of radioactive decay in which the neutron-to-proton ratio in the nucleus is too great and causes instability, resulting in a neutron being transformed into a proton and an electron
  6. 7. natural or artificial conversion of an atom of one element into an atom of another element by the emission of radiation from an unstable nucleus
  7. 9. the spontaneous emission of radiation by an unstable nucleus
  8. 12. the emission or transmission of energy as particles or waves