Decay Simulator: Gold-174

General data

Radioactive decay series

• Gold-174 139 ms
• Iridium-170 0.87 s · 90.0%
• Platinum-174 0.868 s · 10.0%
• Osmium-170 7.4 s · 92.8%
• Rhenium-166 2.25 s · 4.7%
• Tungsten-166 19.2 s · 12.4%
• Tantalum-166 34.4 s · 12.4%
• Hafnium-166 6.8 min · 12.4%
• Lutetium-166 2.65 min · 12.4%
• Ytterbium-166 56.7 h · 12.4%
• Thulium-166 7.70 h · 12.4%
• Erbium-166 stable · 12.4%
• Iridium-174 7.9 s · 2.5%
• Rhenium-170 9.2 s · 84.0%
• Osmium-174 44 s · 2.5%
• Tungsten-170 2.42 min · 84.0%
• Tantalum-170 6.76 min · 84.0%
• Hafnium-170 16.01 h · 84.0%
• Lutetium-170 2.01 d · 84.0%
• Rhenium-174 2.38 min · 2.5%
• Tungsten-174 34.3 min · 2.5%
• Tantalum-174 1.08 h · 2.5%
• Hafnium-174 7.0×10¹⁶ a · 2.5%
• Ytterbium-170 unknown · 86.5%
• Tantalum-162 3.56 s · 1.1%
• Hafnium-162 38.7 s · 1.1%
• Lutetium-162 1.37 min · 1.1%
• Ytterbium-162 18.89 min · 1.1%
• Thulium-162 21.80 min · 1.1%
• Erbium-162 stable · 1.1%

Rare branches (below 0.01%)

Rare branches are transformations that occur in fewer than 0.01% of decays, e.g. double beta decay or cluster emission. The nuclides they produce are practically absent from a sample, so they are hidden by default to keep the main path clear. In this series: branches - 2, nuclides - 18.

• Lutetium-158 10.6 s · 8.3×10⁻⁴%
• Ytterbium-158 1.49 min · 9.1×10⁻⁴%
• Thulium-158 3.98 min · 9.1×10⁻⁴%
• Erbium-158 2.26 h · 9.1×10⁻⁴%
• Holmium-158 11.3 min · 9.1×10⁻⁴%
• Dysprosium-158 stable · 9.1×10⁻⁴%
• Thulium-154 8.1 s · 7.6×10⁻⁶%
• Holmium-150 77 s · 4.1×10⁻⁶%
• Erbium-154 3.73 min · 3.5×10⁻⁶%
• Dysprosium-150 7.17 min · 4.1×10⁻⁶%
• Holmium-154 11.76 min · 3.5×10⁻⁶%
• Dysprosium-154 2.8×10⁶ a · 3.5×10⁻⁶%
• Terbium-150 3.48 h · 2.6×10⁻⁶%
• Gadolinium-150 1.79×10⁶ a · 6.1×10⁻⁶%
• Gadolinium-146 48.27 d · 1.5×10⁻⁶%
• Europium-146 4.61 d · 1.5×10⁻⁶%
• Samarium-146 6.8×10⁷ a · 7.6×10⁻⁶%
• Neodymium-142 stable · 7.6×10⁻⁶%

How to read the simulation

Grid: each pixel is one atom of the starting isotope. When an atom decays, the pixel takes the colour of the decay product - in decay series mode the product can decay further. The moment each atom decays is random, but the probability follows from the half-life, so after one T½ about half of the atoms remain, after two - about a quarter.

Chart N(t): what percentage of the sample atoms each nuclide makes up at a given moment. The line of the starting isotope falls (by half after each T½), the lines of stable products rise, and those of short-lived ones first rise, then fall.

Chart A(t): activity, i.e. the number of decays per second (becquerel, Bq). It depends on the number of atoms and on how fast they decay: for the same number of atoms, the shorter the T½, the higher the activity.

Simulation time runs faster (or slower) than real time - the time scale slider sets the multiplier. This way you can watch the decay of isotopes that live from fractions of a second to billions of years.

Well-known isotopes

• H-3 - Tritium - glowing watch hands, nuclear fusion fuel.
• C-14 - Radiocarbon dating.
• K-40 - Natural radioactivity - in bananas and in our bodies.
• Co-60 - Radiotherapy and radiation sterilization.
• I-131 - Thyroid treatment; Chernobyl fallout.
• Cs-137 - Long-lasting contamination after Chernobyl and Fukushima.
• Rn-222 - Radon in basements and mines.
• Ra-226 - The longest-lived isotope of radium - the element discovered by Marie and Pierre Curie in 1898.
• U-235 - Nuclear power plant fuel; start of the actinium series.
• U-238 - Age of the Earth; start of the uranium series.
• Pu-238 - Power source for space probes (Voyager, Curiosity rover).
• Am-241 - Ionization smoke detectors.