What is a radioactive isotope?

Question

please help thanks

Answer 1

Radioactive isotopes are also known as radioisotopes or radionuclides (this might help you with searching on the internet).

It's an atom with an unstable nucleus which will undergo radioactive decay. Examples include carbon-14 (important in carbon dating techniques) and uranium-235 (important in the nuclear fuel cycle).

There's a bunch of factors that cause a nucleus to become unstable, these include things like their atomic mass (protons + neutrons) and the number of protons they have compared to neutrons.

Pretty brief, but I hope this helps :)