Nuclear Chemistry: Half-Life & The Decay Series

Two Complete Lessons in One! This resource includes an honors level lesson and a standard level lesson! There are two main concepts included in this lesson; half-life and the decay series. Students should understand that the decay of a radioisotope goes through a series of transmutations – usually by emitting either alpha or beta particles. Also, students should notice that the daughter nuclide of one reaction becomes the parent nuclide of the next nuclear decay. Before we dive into some half-life problems, I have presented a few animated diagrams of what’s going on during the decay series of an element. Many students have the misconception that half of the material disappears, decays, gone forever! So here we want them to understand that they are going through a transmutation and becoming different elements by not only releasing particles, but also energy in a process to become more stable. There are many opportunities for students to practice half-life pro