Law and Energy of Radioactive Decay

Radioactive decay follows the laws of statistics. If a sufficiently great number of radioactive atoms are observed for a sufficiently long time, the law of radioactive decay is found to be 

Radioactive decay is only possible if AE 0. AE can be determined by comparison of the masses. According to the relation foimd by Einstein (eq. (2.8)), 

By caleulation of AE it can be decided whether a decay process is possible or not. 

Even if AE 0, the question of the probability of a radioactive decay process is still open. It can only be answered if the energy barrier is known. The energetics of radioactive decay are plotted schematically in Fig. 4.1. The energies of the mother nuclide and the products of the mononuclear reaction differ by AE. But the nuclide A has to surmount an energy barrier with the threshold energy Es. The nuclide may occupy discrete energy levels above ground level. However, only if its excitation 

The law governing radioactive decay (eq. (4.1)) is analoguous to that of first-order chemical kinetics. The excited state on top of the energy barrier corresponds to the activated complex, and s is equivalent to the activation energy. 

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