Polonium alpha emission from

Write an equation for alpha emission from a polonium-218 isotope. 

Polonium-210 decays to Pb-206 by alpha emission. Its half-life is 138 days. What volume of helium at 25°C and 1.20 atm would be obtained from a 25.00-g sample of Po-210 left to decay for 75 hours ... 

Regardless of the surrounding media, radon is transformed or degrades only by radioactive decay. There are no sinks for radon, and it is estimated that only negligible amounts escape to the stratosphere (Harley 1973). Therefore, degradation proceeds by alpha-emission to form polonium-218. As stated in Table 3-2, the half-life of radon is 3.82 days. The half-lives of the progeny are much shorter, ranging from approximately 0.0002 seconds for polonium-214 to 30 minutes for lead-214. 

Polonium-210 has a half-life of 138.4 days, decaying by alpha emission. Suppose the helium gas originating from the alpha particles in this decay were collected. What volume of helium at 25°C and 735 mmHg could be obtained from 1.0000 g of polonium dioxide, P0O2, in a period of 48.0 h ... 

In spite of all the new approaches which illuminated the outer regions of the atom, the center or nucleus of the atom continued to remain a bundle of uncertainties. Something of the composition of the nuclei of a few elements was already known. This information came from a study of the spontaneous disintegration of radium and other radioactive elements, such as thorium, polonium, uranium, and radon. These elements break down of their own accord into simpler elements. Soon after the Curies discovery of radium, Rutherford and Frederick Soddy, his student and collaborator, had found that the spontaneous breaking down of radium resulted in the emission of three types of rays and particles. Radium ejected alpha particles (ionized helium atoms), beta particles (electrons), and gamma rays (similar to X-rays). In radioactive elements, at least, it was believed that the nucleus contained electrons, protons, and electrified helium particles. 

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