
Radioactive isotope | Description, Uses, & Examples | Britannica
A radioactive isotope, also known as a radioisotope, radionuclide, or radioactive nuclide, is any of several species of the same chemical element with different masses whose nuclei are …
What is a radioactive isotope? | Britannica
A radioactive isotope, also known as a radioisotope, radionuclide, or radioactive nuclide, is any of several species of the same chemical element with different masses whose nuclei are …
Radioactivity | Definition, Types, Applications, & Facts | Britannica
Nov 11, 2025 · The rate at which a radioactive element decays is expressed in terms of its half-life; i.e., the time required for one-half of any given quantity of the isotope to decay.
How Radioactive Isotopes are Used in Medicine | Britannica
Radioactive isotopes, or radioisotopes, are species of chemical elements that are produced through the natural decay of atoms.
Half-life | Definition & Facts | Britannica
The rate at which a radioactive element decays is expressed in terms of its half-life; i.e., the time required for one-half of any given quantity of the isotope to decay.
Carbon-14 | Dating, Mass, & Half-life | Britannica
Carbon-14, the longest-lived radioactive isotope of carbon, whose decay allows the accurate dating of archaeological artifacts from 500 to 50,000 years old. Carbon-14 has a half-life of …
Isotopic tracer | Radioactive, Stable, Trace Elements | Britannica
The movement of a chemical element under study may be traced by adding a radioactive isotope (or radioisotope) of the same element. The radiations emitted by such a radioisotope can be …
Carbon-14 dating | Definition, Method, Uses, & Facts | Britannica
Nov 11, 2025 · The rate at which a radioactive element decays is expressed in terms of its half-life; i.e., the time required for one-half of any given quantity of the isotope to decay.
Radiation | Definition, Types, Effects, & Facts | Britannica
Nov 4, 2025 · One example of this kind of radiation is the electron, first established as a negatively charged particle in 1897 by the English physicist Joseph John Thomson and later …
radioactive isotope Facts | Britannica
Radioactive isotope, any of the species of the same chemical element that have different masses and unstable nuclei that emit radiation.