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Article: Radon
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- Pollution A to Z
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Radon
Radon is an odorless, colorless, radioactive, though chemically unreactive gas. It has an atomic number of eighty-six, which corresponds to the number of protons found in the nucleus of any
isotope
of radon. There are more than thirty known isotopes of radon, and each one emits some combination
of
alpha
,
beta
, and
gamma radiation
when undergoing radioactive transformation, commonly referred to as "decay."
Radon gas is ubiquitous in the natural environment. This is because the precursors to radon, such as the aforementioned radium isotopes, and others such as radium, thorium, and uranium isotopes, are present in some rock formations. Radon is also found in the man-made ...