Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A radioactive element; an elementary chemical substance which undergoes spontaneous disintegration, with or without the emission of Becquerel rays, and which is either produced from or itself produces an element which is the source of such a radiation.

Etymologies

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Examples

  • The time necessary for the disappearance of half the atoms, called the half-life, is a fundamental characteristic of each radio-element; according to the substance the value of the half-life varies between a fraction of a second and millions of years.

    Irène Joliot-Curie - Nobel Lecture 1966

  • Next, this unstable atom, this new radio-element which we have called "radio-phosphorus" decomposes exponentially with a half-life of three minutes.

    Irène Joliot-Curie - Nobel Lecture 1966

  • At its center was a tiny capsule of synthetic radio-element, surrounded by the converting screens that shifted its radiation far down the spectrum.

    Expedition to Earth Clarke, Arthur C. 1953

  • Next, this unstable atom, this new radio-element which we have called decomposes exponentially with a half-life of three minutes.

    Artificial Production Of Radioactive Elements: Nobel Lecture 1935

  • The time necessary for the disappearance of half the atoms, called the half-life, is a fundamental characteristic of each radio-element; according to the substance the value of the half-life varies between a fraction of a second and millions of years.

    Artificial Production Of Radioactive Elements: Nobel Lecture 1935

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