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  2. Exponential decay - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exponential_decay

    Exponential decay is a scalar multiple of the exponential distribution (i.e. the individual lifetime of each object is exponentially distributed), which has a well-known expected value. We can compute it here using integration by parts .

  3. Radioactive decay - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radioactive_decay

    t. e. Radioactive decay (also known as nuclear decay, radioactivity, radioactive disintegration, or nuclear disintegration) is the process by which an unstable atomic nucleus loses energy by radiation. A material containing unstable nuclei is considered radioactive. Three of the most common types of decay are alpha, beta, and gamma decay.

  4. Beta decay - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beta_decay

    In nuclear physics, beta decay (β-decay) is a type of radioactive decay in which an atomic nucleus emits a beta particle (fast energetic electron or positron ), transforming into an isobar of that nuclide. For example, beta decay of a neutron transforms it into a proton by the emission of an electron accompanied by an antineutrino; or ...

  5. Half-life - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Half-life

    Half-life (symbol t½) is the time required for a quantity (of substance) to reduce to half of its initial value. The term is commonly used in nuclear physics to describe how quickly unstable atoms undergo radioactive decay or how long stable atoms survive. The term is also used more generally to characterize any type of exponential (or, rarely ...

  6. Bateman equation - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bateman_equation

    In nuclear physics, the Bateman equation is a mathematical model describing abundances and activities in a decay chain as a function of time, based on the decay rates and initial abundances. The model was formulated by Ernest Rutherford in 1905 [1] and the analytical solution was provided by Harry Bateman in 1910. [2]

  7. Orbital decay - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orbital_decay

    t. e. Orbital decay is a gradual decrease of the distance between two orbiting bodies at their closest approach (the periapsis) over many orbital periods. These orbiting bodies can be a planet and its satellite, a star and any object orbiting it, or components of any binary system. If left unchecked, the decay eventually results in termination ...

  8. Decay correction - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decay_correction

    Decay correction is one way of working out what the radioactivity would have been at the time it was taken, rather than at the time it was tested. For example, the isotope copper-64, commonly used in medical research, has a half-life of 12.7 hours. If you inject a large group of animals at "time zero", but measure the radioactivity in their ...

  9. K–Ar dating - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K–Ar_dating

    K–Ar dating. Potassium–argon dating, abbreviated K–Ar dating, is a radiometric dating method used in geochronology and archaeology. It is based on measurement of the product of the radioactive decay of an isotope of potassium (K) into argon (Ar). Potassium is a common element found in many materials, such as feldspars, micas, clay ...