Decay Simulator: Krypton-100

General data

Radioactive decay series

• Krypton-100 7 ms
• Rubidium-100 52 ms
• Strontium-100 201 ms · 93.8%
• Yttrium-100 729 ms · 92.8%
• Zirconium-100 7.1 s · 91.9%
• Niobium-100 1.4 s · 91.9%
• Molybdenum-100 7.07×10¹⁸ a · 91.9%
• Ruthenium-100 stable · 91.9%
• Strontium-99 269 ms · 6.0%
• Yttrium-99 1.483 s · 7.0%
• Zirconium-99 2.1 s · 7.8%
• Niobium-99 15.0 s · 7.8%
• Molybdenum-99 65.936 h · 7.8%
• Technetium-99 2.111×10⁵ a · 7.8%
• Ruthenium-99 stable · 7.8%
• Strontium-98 653 ms · 0.15%
• Yttrium-98 548 ms · 0.16%
• Zirconium-98 30.7 s · 0.28%
• Niobium-98 2.86 s · 0.28%
• Molybdenum-98 stable · 0.28%

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 - 6.

• Yttrium-97 3.75 s · 3.4×10⁻⁴%
• Zirconium-97 16.749 h · 8.6×10⁻⁴%
• Niobium-97 72.1 min · 8.6×10⁻⁴%
• Molybdenum-97 stable · 8.6×10⁻⁴%
• Zirconium-96 2.29×10¹⁹ a · 1.9×10⁻⁷%
• Molybdenum-96 stable · 1.9×10⁻⁷%

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.