• Question: why are radioactive neuclei slightly different colours to non radioactive nuclei?

    Asked by to Thomas on 12 Mar 2014. This question was also asked by .
    • Photo: Thomas Elias Cocolios

      Thomas Elias Cocolios answered on 12 Mar 2014:

      The colour of an element comes from its atomic structure, that is the place of the electrons around it. Those electrons are placed the way they are to balance the electric force coming from the protons in the nucleus.

      When an element is radioactif, its protons rearrange themselves differently from the standard element (more/less neutrons, different shape). As such, there is an ever-so-slightly different effect on the electrons. We are talking of 1 part to 1,000,000 effect (like a 1cm tide, with respect to the size of the earth!).

      That is why when we study such effects, we need a very precise light source, in our case, a laser.

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