Final answer:
In a radioactive decay simulation, the number of daughter atoms increases while the number of radioactive (parent) atoms decreases due to the transformation of parent atoms into daughter atoms. This conforms to an exponential decay pattern with the number of parent atoms halving after each half-life.
Step-by-step explanation:
As the simulation of radioactive decay proceeds, the number of daughter atoms increases while the number of radioactive (parent) atoms decreases. This is because, in radioactive decay, a parent atom transforms into a daughter atom. During alpha decay, for instance, the parent atom loses two protons and two neutrons, leading to a decrease in both its atomic and mass numbers, resulting in a daughter atom with a mass number that's four less and an atomic number that's two less than the parent. In beta decay, the daughter atom's atomic number is increased by one, even though the mass number remains unchanged. This process repeats continuously, with each decay event transforming a parent atom into a daughter atom, thus increasing the overall number of daughter atoms while decreasing the number of parent atoms.
Additionally, the process of radioactive decay follows an exponential decay pattern, where the number of parent atoms decreases by half after each half-life. Over time, the graph showing the number of parent atoms will steeply decline during initial decay periods, emphasizing the rate at which the parent atoms are being transformed into daughter atoms. To recap, during radioactive decay:
- The number of parent atoms decreases
- The number of daughter atoms increases
- The change pattern follows an exponential decay