Household+Radon

=¡Household Radon Information!=

Radon can be found in soil under the ground and in peoples drinking water. There are several risks associated with household radon. One of the most common concerns is cancer, especially lung cancer. The radon that has been found in soil under homes creates a greater risk of lung cancer than that of the radon in drinking water. Even though radon in the air is considered worse then radon in water, the issue of radon in water continues to grow. It is very harmful and potentially can be life-threatening.
 * • What are the risks associated with your application?**

Uranium, Radium, Radon, and Polonium
 * • What radioactive isotopes are involved?**



http://www.kgs.ku.edu/Publications/PIC/25figures/Fig2.jpg

Radon comes from the decay process of uranium so there are several radioactive isotopes involved in the creation of radon. Uranium starts by decaying to the radioactive element Radium. Radium then decays into another radioactive element, which is radon. The decay from Uranium to Radium takes place over a half-life of 4.4 billion years. Radium then decays with a half-life of 1,620 years and loses an alpha particle (going through alpha decay), which forms the gas radon.
 * • What is the half-life of the isotopes?**


 * • What kind of decay and/or artificial transmutation is involved, including the equation for the nuclear reaction?**

The decay that is involved in this is alpha decay:

//Alpha Particle:// An Alpha Particle is two protons and two neutrons bound together into a particle identical to a helium nucleus

//Alpha decay:// Alpha decay is a type of radioactive decay in which an atomic nucleus emits an alpha particle and decays into an atom with a mass number 4 less and atomic number 2 less.

^ both of the above definitions were taken from wikipedia.



^ http://genchem.chem.wisc.edu/sstutorial/Text4/Tx46/tx46p1.GIF


 * Bibliography:**

"Alpha Decay." __Wikipedia__. Oct. 2007. 24 Jan. 2008 <[|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpha_decay>.]

Kusky, Timothy. "Radon." //Encyclopedia of Earth Science//. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2005. //Science Online//. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE40&SID=5&iPin= EOES0472&SingleRecord=True (accessed January 24, 2008).

"Radon." //Science Online//. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE40&SID=5&iPin= NS140077&SingleRecord=True (accessed January 24, 2008).