Radioactive Series
Category : JEE Main & Advanced
(1) If the isotope that results from a radioactive decay is itself radioactive then it will also decay and so on.
(2) The sequence of decays is known as radioactive decay series. Most of the radio-nuclides found in nature are members of four radioactive series. These are as follows
Four radioactive series
| Mass number | Series (Nature) | Parent | Stable end product | Integer n |
| \[4n\] | Thorium (natural) | \[_{90}T{{h}^{232}}\] | \[_{82}P{{b}^{208}}\] | 52 |
| \[4n+1\] | Neptunium (Artificial) | \[_{93}N{{p}^{237}}\] | \[_{83}B{{i}^{209}}\] | 52 |
| \[4n+2\] | Uranium (Natural) | \[_{92}{{U}^{238}}\] | \[_{82}P{{b}^{206}}\] | 51 |
| \[4n+3\] | Actinium (Natural) | \[_{89}A{{c}^{227}}\] | \[_{82}P{{b}^{207}}\] | 51 |
(3) The \[4n+1\] series starts from \[_{94}P{{u}^{241}}\] but commonly known as neptunium series because neptunium is the longest lived member of the series.
(4) The \[4n+3\] series actually starts from \[_{92}{{U}^{235}}\].
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