Nuclear transformation of radioactive elements?

Question

I've been searching the internet for the last few hours but i can't find any sites that shows how you can transform radioactive elements.. from higher to lower, etc..

Is there some sort of formula for this? and i think it's also called nuclear transmutation?

Answer 1

see the links

Answer 2

I find your question a tad confusing to be honest.  I am just going to start from the very beginning.

Elements are transformed (changed from one element to another) through nuclear reactions such as mostly radioactive decay (except for an isomeric transition), high energy collisions, and activation (from protons or neutrons).  I might have missed a few but those are the most common mechanisms.

You just need to know what kind of nuclear reaction your are dealing with.  Any radiochemistry or intro/nuclear phyiscs text or a nuclear science text will explain it.  Or you can try a to get your hands on the table of nuclides from Lockheed Martin.

Generally, from proton or neutron activiation, you just add the appropretate numbers of protons or neutrons to the target nucleus. Usually, it is one neutron or proton, b/c the probability of it be activated over and over again is slim.

For the decay modes, they are specific rules:

Alpha Decay:  Atomic Number goes down by 2 and Mass Number down by 4.

Beta Decay:  Atomic Number goes up by 1 and Mass number stays the same (the neutron converts to a proton)

Positron/Electron Capture Decay: Atomic Number goes down by 1 and Mass number stays the same (the proton converts to a neutron)