Decay Simulator: Polonium-187

General data

Radioactive decay series

• Polonium-187 1.4 ms
• Lead-183 540 ms
• Mercury-179 1.05 s
• Platinum-175 2.43 s · 75.0%
• Osmium-171 8.3 s · 48.0%
• Gold-179 7.2 s · 24.8%
• Iridium-175 8.9 s · 32.5%
• Rhenium-171 15.2 s · 47.4%
• Tungsten-171 2.39 min · 47.4%
• Tantalum-171 23.3 min · 47.4%
• Hafnium-171 12.1 h · 47.4%
• Lutetium-171 8.25 d · 47.4%
• Ytterbium-171 stable · 47.4%
• Platinum-179 21.2 s · 19.3%
• Osmium-175 1.4 min · 32.2%
• Rhenium-175 5.89 min · 32.2%
• Tungsten-175 35.2 min · 32.2%
• Tantalum-175 10.5 h · 32.2%
• Hafnium-175 70.67 d · 32.2%
• Lutetium-175 stable · 32.2%
• Iridium-179 79 s · 19.3%
• Osmium-179 6.3 min · 19.3%
• Rhenium-179 19.5 min · 19.3%
• Tungsten-179 37.05 min · 19.3%
• Tantalum-179 1.82 a · 19.3%
• Hafnium-179 stable · 19.3%
• Tungsten-167 19.9 s · 0.86%
• Tantalum-167 80 s · 0.86%
• Hafnium-167 2.05 min · 0.86%
• Lutetium-167 52.0 min · 0.86%
• Ytterbium-167 17.5 min · 0.86%
• Thulium-167 9.28 d · 0.86%
• Erbium-167 stable · 0.86%
• Platinum-178 21 s · 0.21%
• Iridium-178 12 s · 0.19%
• Osmium-178 5.0 min · 0.19%
• Rhenium-178 13.2 min · 0.19%
• Tungsten-178 21.6 d · 0.19%
• Tantalum-178 2.41 h · 0.19%
• Hafnium-178 stable · 0.19%
• Osmium-174 44 s · 0.016%
• Rhenium-174 2.38 min · 0.016%
• Tungsten-174 34.3 min · 0.016%
• Tantalum-174 1.08 h · 0.016%
• Hafnium-174 7.0×10¹⁶ a · 0.016%
• Ytterbium-170 unknown · 0.016%

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 - 11.

• Hafnium-163 40.0 s · 3.5×10⁻⁴%
• Lutetium-163 4.01 min · 3.5×10⁻⁴%
• Ytterbium-163 11.1 min · 3.5×10⁻⁴%
• Thulium-163 1.810 h · 3.5×10⁻⁴%
• Erbium-163 75.0 min · 3.5×10⁻⁴%
• Holmium-163 4570 a · 3.5×10⁻⁴%
• Dysprosium-163 stable · 3.5×10⁻⁴%
• Tungsten-170 2.42 min · 3.2×10⁻⁶%
• Tantalum-170 6.76 min · 3.2×10⁻⁶%
• Hafnium-170 16.01 h · 3.2×10⁻⁶%
• Lutetium-170 2.01 d · 3.2×10⁻⁶%

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.