Naked Science Forum

Non Life Sciences => Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology => Topic started by: petelamana on 12/02/2018 14:36:09

Title: What are the radioactive decay products of uranium?
Post by: petelamana on 12/02/2018 14:36:09

While watching the movie "Fat Man and Little Boy", a 1992 film about the Manhattan Project, I started thinking back to my basic undergrad courses.  I know that U decays, eventually, to Pb.  However, I seem to remember that an isotope of U occasionally decays "down" to Hg.  Am I correct?  Which isotope of U?  Why mercury and not lead?  What is the probability of uranium to mercury decay?

Title: Re: What are the radioactive decay products of uranium?
Post by: chiralSPO on 12/02/2018 14:47:51

According to this decay chain presented on wikipedia, a very small fraction of nuclei from the ²³⁸U decay chain become mercury nuclei, but this is only transient (half life of minutes), and ultimately lead is the only stable product.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4e/Uranium_series.gif

Title: Re: What are the radioactive decay products of uranium?
Post by: Bored chemist on 13/02/2018 18:39:26

Mercury is just about possible as a fission product- though the yield would be very small.