Natural decay (The Radioactivity Song)

By Mark Rosengarten.

listen to the song

The nucleus of an atom is filled with lots of stuff,
There's protons and there's neutrons, thats really quite enough,
But sometimes an atom has too much of one of these,
And lets slip out decayed particles, kind of like a sneeze.

Its decay,
Natural decay,
HOORAY!

Its decay,
Natural decay,
HOORAY!

Some nucleii spew out whats looks like helium,
It's an alpha particle, made by uranium,
It's nuclear notation, it is 4,2 He,
And it is really dangerous, causes burns to you and me.

It's decay,
Alpha decay,
HOORAY!

It's decay,
Natural decay,
HOORAY!

Nucleii like C14 give a little, biddy sneeze,
It's a beta particle, an electron if you please,
It can travel fast, but it don't take much to stop,
Turns a neutron to a proton, watch the Geiger counters hop.

It's decay,
Beta decay,
HOORAY!

It's decay,
Natural decay,
HOORAY!

Isotopes of potassium emit a positron,
Its called beta positive, don't know who's side it's on,
A proton becomes a neutron, the mass remains the same,
And that is how the positron plays the nuclear game.

It's decay,
Positron decay,
HOORAY!

It's decay,
Natural decay,
HOORAY!

When a nucleus emits any of these,
It can also give off gamma,
With instability its easy,
It goes at the speed of light, 'cos that's really what it is,
And it has no mass or charge,
Only lead can stop it whiz.

It's decay,
Gives off gamma rays,
HOORAYS!

It's decay,
Natural decay
HOORAY!