http://www.ck12.orgCHAPTER
11 Nuclear Chemistry
Chapter Outline
11.1 Radioactivity
11.2 RADIOACTIVEDECAY
11.3 NUCLEARENERGY
11.4 REFERENCES
If you lived during the Middle Ages (between 400 and 1400 A.D.), you might see a scene like the one pictured here.
The man in the picture is an alchemist. Alchemists were people who strived to turn lead into gold. They tried all
sorts of chemical reactions involving lead, but they were never able to produce gold. As you learned in an earlier
chapter, an element cannot be changed into another element by any type of chemical reaction. However, scientists
now know there is a way that some elements can change into others. You’ll find out what it is when you read this
chapter.
Adriaen van Ostade.commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Adriaen_vanOstade−Alchemist−_WGA 16738 .jpg.Public Domain.