What Makes Something Radioactive?

Difference between radioactive and radiation. Discussion of half-life and how neutrons are needed to make something radioactive, not being exposed to radiation.

[@dragzgaming]

Can we take a moment to appreciate how he wrote all that backwards perfectly lol

[@studiosraufncingr6965]

or you know.. he wrote normally and just mirrored the video in the editing program

[@johno9507]

You didn't notice his watch and wedding ring are on the wrong side?

[@dragzgaming]

Very observant, I missed that lol

[@michaelschwartz9485]

He's actually rearranging his molecules to make it look like this. That's very easy for Professor Energy.

[@tekashiii]

"Why is something radioactive?" "I dont know. Marbles. Half life. Lolz"

[@Songfugel]

I wish this would have been a longer video

[@mazdoctorxd]

“Many people think: ‘oh my gosh! that’s radioactive! I’m gonna become radioactive!’ No, no, you might become... dead, or get cancer...” Me: that really isn’t helping😂😂😂

[@MaruskaStarshaya]

If you don't protect yourself, as we know alpha and beta radiation could be shielded easily

[@TheRWS96]

Hello Illinois EnergyProf, Could you enable comunity contribution to subtitels, i would like to show this to some other people but they cannot understand english very well so i would like to add a translation.

[@sleepib]

From the title, I was hoping for an explanation of what makes an isotope unstable. This is just saying it's radioactive because it's radioactive.

[@WarrenGarabrandt]

Thanks! Saved me some time.

[@WarrenGarabrandt]

@D.O.A. I'm pretty sure it has to do with the following: 1) the week force governs radioactive decay 2) it is moderated by a particle being created and a force exchanged between those particles 3) certain energies of particles (and therefore their mass) are more likely than others 4) different elements and different isotopes need particles of a certain mass to exist to exchange the right amount of energy 5) if a particle of a certain energy is common, the reaction will occur readily, and if it's very rare, it will take a long time 6) if something isn't impossible, it will eventually happen. 7) when a required particle happens to manifest where its needed, the atom decays 8) "stable" atoms will decay too, it's just that the particles required to mediate it are extraordinarily rare. Let time run it's course, and eventually every atom will decay.

[@WarrenGarabrandt]

@D.O.A. Every atom and every isotope has some value or range of values that if a particle were there with just the right value of energy, it would cause an atom to undergo radioactive decay. It's just a question of how long to you have to wait, statistically speaking, before you are likely to see one. We've actually proved this. We observed a stable atom undergo decay in one of our neutrino detector. It was extremely unlikely, but it happened anyway.

[@justgivemethetruth]

@@WarrenGarabrandt Only 90 isotopes are expected to be perfectly stable, and an additional 162 are energetically unstable, but have never been observed to decay. Thus, 252 isotopes (nuclides) are stable by definition (including , for which no decay has yet been observed).

[@kaan-urp]

the ratio of protons and neutrons inside of a nuclei must be 1 or very close to 1. For example if protons are more than neutrons, it will undergo beta+ decay and one of its protons will become neutron. Sometimes this process might leave the atom in an excited state and it might also radiate gamma rays. Another reason to become radioactive is nucleus might become too big for the nuclear force to keep nucleus intact since it has a very small effect radius. Uranium decays because of this reason. So becoming radioactive from something radioactive is impossible. You have to become something radioactive to be radioactive. You wont have any radioactive particles inside your body naturally. Maybe some isotopes like K40 might get into your body but they can be ignored. I think this is what the video is trying to tell. You either need to fuse some nuclei together or add some free protons or neutrons to some nuclei which requires extra effort. You wont get radioactive from something radioactive.

[@danender5555]

Q: What makes something radioactive? A: Marbles

[@RailVentures]

How do you learn to write backwards on a see thru blackboard?

[@mazdoctorxd]

Rail Ventures because skills😂😂😂

[@johno9507]

He doesn't write backwards, he writes normally and the video image is reversed. Didn't you notice his wedding ring is on the wrong hand and he writes left handed, then at 1:40 the image isn't reversed and his ring is on his left hand and he's back to being right handed.

[@utkukeskin8772]

cool explanation

[@Frankenstec]

Im a lay person not a scientist or student and one of the many questions I have is: If Beta radiation is an electron going through your body, how do radioactive materials stay radioactive for so long? Arent the atoms losing electrons? Are there just that many of them? Or am I missing something?

[@ValWasTakenWasTaken]

Is it good that im atleast procrastinating with my economics studies by learning about radioactivity?

[@dinismalpique5249]

Literally the same here, I'm taking Economics and this is what I decided to do with my time

[@ylette]

Half-Life 3 confirmed.

[@Mr_BRRRRT]

When he started writing, making me think he was writing in the contrary just so we could read it, I legit was scared af. Then I realized what it was.

[@9999Mihas]

So how things actually become radioactive?

[@TurdFurgeson275]

Nobody has commented on the fact that he's writing backwards without much effort. I was amazed.

[@johno9507]

He is writing normally on the glass and the image is flipped digitally, even his watch and wedding ring are on the wrong side.

[@justgivemethetruth]

His watch is on his left wrist presumably ... so since his left wrist is on the left side of the video, the video is flipped across the vertical axis.

[@michaelschwartz9485]

Professor Energy for President!

[@knutritter461]

A nice example of radioactivity is baking soda containing potash. If people knew how radioactive it is... noone would dare to eat a cake anymore. 😂

[@guesswho6038]

Baking soda is sodium hydrocarbonate so it's a bad example actually. But, yes potassium is slightly radioactive, so for estimated 140g of average human body potassium content, there's ca. 16mg of radioactive isotope K-40. Would you touch another human again?

[@knutritter461]

@@guesswho6038 Except there are baking sodas that exhibit a high content of potassium hydrogen carbonate. (KHCO3)

[@manify8269]

But how and why something changes ....does it happen itself...

[@MoltenFungus]

I waited a year, and half life 2 came out.

[@SigEpBlue]

IIRC, the Zippo lighter in the pocket of one of the guys at the SL-1 experimental reactor accident became radioactive, due to neutron bombardment. But yes, I think in light of a prompt-critical event, the last thing you're worried about is becoming radioactive. Perhaps the term _ionizing_ radiation should've been used to distinguish it from other types we shouldn't worry about too much...?

[@hankcester]

Radioactive. An unstable nucleius of an atom

[@RyanHannaMusic]

OK, are you writing normally on the glass then flipping the camera, or are you actually writing backwards? 😂

[@marca6597]

I was thinking the same thing lmao.

[@nobiledigitale]

The image is flipped, look at the position of the buttons on his jacket :)

[@JesterAzazel]

His watch is another clue, when the video shows him in a classroom it's on a different hand. Also, he's right handed.

[@sayori3939]

What makes things radioactive? It's simple that would be my wet socks :3

[@suhankumarchoudhury9958]

No, the question is what is radioactivity.

[@joneslt]

Terrible explanation. This doesn’t even come close to explaining why something is radioactive

[@Entroprox]

Was thinking the same thing

[@abhinay4200]

Bad explanation should have explained about extra neutrons and protons

[@apersonfromaplace019]

What is the radiation made of?