Question

Generally speaking, as there is a greater discrepancy (difference) between the number of protons and the number of neutrons in elemental isotopes, what does radioactivity do in terms of quantity?

a) Increases
b) Decreases
c) Remains the same
d) Depends on the element

Answer 1

As the discrepancy between the number of protons and neutrons in isotopes increases, radioactivity generally increases due to the instability caused by an imbalanced proton-to-neutron ratio.

Step-by-step explanation:

Generally speaking, as there is a greater discrepancy (difference) between the number of protons and the number of neutrons in elemental isotopes, radioactivity tends to increase. This is because the stability of a nuclide depends on the composition of its nucleus, which includes the proton-to-neutron ratio.


An imbalance in this ratio can lead to instability and make the nuclide more likely to undergo radioactive decay to attain a stable form. For instance, beta decay does not change the mass number of the nucleus (represented by 'A'), but increases the atomic number ('Z') by one because of the addition of a proton while decreasing the number of neutrons, thus modifying the ratio towards greater stability.