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bkinstle t1_iybztbf wrote

Reply to comment by mfb- in What stabilizes a Neutron in a Nucleus from Neutron Decay? by UnifiedQuantumField

Is this what causes some atoms to be radioactive? Some neutron in the cluster of the nucleus isn't quite completely bound as well as the others so everyone it decays, and then the chunk of the nucleus it was holding together breaks off?

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mfb- t1_iyc0k3i wrote

If there is enough energy to do that decay then it will happen eventually, yes (unless something else happens before). That's how beta decay works.

> and then the chunk of the nucleus it was holding together breaks off?

There is nothing breaking off. The electron and an antineutrino escape.

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bkinstle t1_iyc10g9 wrote

Cool thanks for the reply.

When I said breaking off a chunk I was thinking about when an atom fissions. Does that happen as a process of natural decay or only when triggered for example by a neutron released from a nearby atom?

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mfb- t1_iyc1uyk wrote

Spontaneous fission is a decay mode of some nuclei, but that's different from beta decay.

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