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Does radium have a critical mass?
If Radium isn't fissile, how can it be radioactive?
2 Answers
- Steve4PhysicsLv 76 years agoFavorite Answer
BEGIN EDIT (in reply to your update).
There are a number of different types of radioactive decay (e.g. alpha decay, beta decay).
Fission is just one type of decay - where a large nucleus splits apart (into fission fragments) either spontaneously or because it first absorbs a free neutron which makes the nucleus unstable anf then split (induced fission).
But in beta decay for example, a neutron turns to a proton and a beta particles (and also an antineutrino, though this is not taught at an introductory level). This is a form of radioactive decay - but it has nothing whatsoever to do with fission.
E.g. see link.
END EDIT
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No. Critical mass only applies to fissile isotopes (ones that are able to undergo fission). Radium has no fissile isotopes.