How Radioactive Decay Works
How Radioactive Decay Works . Radiometric dating (often called radioactive dating) is a technique used to date materials such as rocks or carbon, usually based on a comparison between the observed abundance of a naturally occurring radioactive isotope and its decay products, using known decay rates. How does radioactive decay relate to radiometric dating? Nuclear Decay Explained YouTube from www.youtube.com The only way that this can happen is by changing the number of protons in the nucleus (an element is defined by its number of protons). Most types of radioactive decay involve changes in the makeup of an atomic nucleus, with a change in the number of neutrons (no charge) and/or protons (positive charge). Radioactive atoms decay through a series of radiation such as alpha, beta and gamma decay.