Radioactivity

This week in chemistry, we focused on radioactivity. Radioactivity occurs when atoms decay and become unstable. They then turn into stable elements I learned about alpha and beta decay and gamma rays. In alpha decay, a He-4 atom is added to the unstable element, causing it to lose 2 neutrons and 2 protons. In beta decay, an electron is added, causing the mass number to stay the same, but a electron is lost, adding a proton to the atomic number. Sometimes, radioactivity produces gamma rays, which have high amounts of energy. Carbon-14 is used to date ancient artifacts.