Bbrhuft t1_jcfhm3b wrote
Reply to comment by mfb- in Radon is a monatomic gas, but its decay products are solids. After a decay, what happens to the individual atoms of the daughter elements? Do they stay suspended in the atmosphere or slowly rain out? by foodtower
Lead-214 has a half life of 27 minutes, you're thinking of Lead-210.
Radon-222 -> Po-218 + Alpha (3.8 days)
Po-218 -> Pb-214 + Alpha (3.1 minutes)
Pb-214 -> Bi-214 + e^(-) (27 minutes)
Bi-214 -> Po-214 + e^(-) (19.7 minutes)
Po-218, Pb-214 and Bi-214 are the most important radon daughters, they are responsible for most of the (indirect) radiation dose from Radon-222.
Pb-214 and Bi-214 are also ions, singly ionized.
Also, the Po-214 daughter travelling at 13 million miles per hour, recoil from kicking out a Alpha particle at 8% the speed of light.
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