Radioactivity: Expect the unexpected - Steve Weatherall

Neutrons don't change into protons. Except, sometimes, they do. Radioactivity is the process under which the nucleus can change spontaneously from one element to another. Steve Weatherall suggests that we acknowledge both the usefulness and danger inherent in harvesting radioactivity.

Talk by Steve Weatherall, animation by Eugene Uymatiao.

[LEGOGamesYT]

1:27 The reason that happens has to do with the composition of protons and neutrons. To resume, unlike electrons, which are elementary particles (they can't be divided into smaller things, as far as we know now), protons and neutrons are made of smaller particles called quarks. Those quarks are indivisible, and they're divided into 2 main groups: up quarks and down quarks. A proton has 2 up quarks and 1 down quark, while the neutron has 1 up and 2 down. Via what's known as the weak force of the so-called Standard Model, which describes how particles interact together, up quarks can transform into down quarks and vice versa. In this case, this is why a neutron can transform into a proton: one of its down quarks transformed into an up quark.

[palak]

God bless you! You made the concept unbelievably easy to understand.

[metanoia.CHANGE_OF_MIND]

Alpha: I can penetrate but not much
Beta: I can penetrate deeper than you but not deep
Gamma: Hold my beer.

[richardbennett]

Gamma rays are particles, too. Wave-particle duality. Remember?

[aikidy]

very impressive animation with the adorable characters, the Narrator was clear and the video was over all well done.

[iMacBoy]

What a genius way to explain chemistry! Love it!

[moiquiregardevideo]

Nice animation. It is the first time I hear that an atom transmutate to a larger/heavier element. Also, when atom eject 2 protons and 2 electrons, creating helium. Now I remember: helium on Earth comes from radio active decomposition that get trapped deep in rock layers.

[giannieditsvideos]

You just single handedly caught me up with weeks of science class that I didn't understand because I didn't listen

[HamHamDude]

This is one of the best-animated videos yet.

[Awakenbeing]

this video is so short yet so powerful in illustartion the alpha, beta and gama particle/radiation happening during radioactivity

[ChadtuvaQueen]

Bless you, nucleuses in the video! (gives a tissue each to the sneezing nucleuses)

[crumbledpaperworks]

we all learn from TED-ED videos in just minutes than we can learn in school / college in 10-15 years

[bellazonna]

Actually, there is an easy way to explain why neutrons turn into protons during radioactivity, to explain this, let's go back to a neutrons roots. A neutron is created when protons and electrons fuse. And that explains it. During radioactivity, a neutron loses it's electron, leaving behind the lone proton.

[kingoftangents]

Great animations. Gonna use this in my classes... as with a bunch of others of yours. Thanks! :D

[karlbergen]

For me this is too simple but I have two degrees in chemistry so I would expect it to be too simple for me.

Radioactivity has always been with us. It's just been recently that it was discovered. The very slow decay of Uranium and Thorium within the earth is the engine that drives volcanoes and plate tectonics.

[NickYT]

Wow. I learned way more from this video than I thought I would. Thank you!

[TheFrenchGenius]

Not if the electron is emitted from the nucleus. To explain this you need to know more detail. Neutrons and protons both consist of 3 quarks. In the case of beta decay, one of the down quarks from a neutron changes into an up quark, metamorphosing it into a proton. The negative charge lost in the change from down quark to up quark is emitted in the form of an electron. Hope this helps. (:

[judgenap]

at fati Ati, A Trimix is a breathing gas, consisting of oxygen, helium and nitrogen, and is often used in deep commercial diving .
Deliberate entry into the body.

[BlondfoxRecords]

I really like the sound of this intro, thank you.

[ChemicalNerd]

The process when an electron is found in a nuclus of an atom or when a proton turns into a nuetron ect. is called quatum tunneling