Nuclear chemistry alpha decay

Helium has long been related to nuclear chemistry because of the formation of alpha particles (a = 4He2+) during the decay of heavy nuclei, an example of which is... 

So, we see as a laboratory source of alpha particles the supply would be pretty constant over a long period of time. Another consideration is that radium is in the same column of the periodic chart as Ca and so biologically it might have similar chemistry to Ca and become trapped in bone tissue where it would be radioactive for a long time. Thus, this interlude regarding the fact that first-order decay is a useful model for nuclear processes has provided an opportunity to discuss some aspects of nuclear chemistry. Considering the crossover of physics and chemistry in the work of the Curies (Marie, Pierre, and Irene) and information in the popular domain regarding nuclear chemistry, we think this brief discussion is justified as an essential part of physical chemistry. 

Rutherford s work has made him known as the father of nuclear physics with his research on radioactivity (alpha and beta particles and protons, which he named), and he was the first to describe the concepts of half-life and decay constant. He showed that elements such as uranium transmute (become different elements) through radioactive decay, and he was the first to observe nuclear reactions (split the atom in 1917). In 1908 he received the Nobel Prize in chemistry for his investigations into the disintegration of the elements, and the chemistry of radioactive substances. He was president of the Royal Society (1926-30) and of the Institute of Physics (1931-33) and was decorated with the Order of Merit (1925). He became Lord Rutherford in 1931. 

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