There are three major different types of radioactivity:
· Alpha Radiation
o The first type of radioactivity, called alpha radiation, consists of a stream of positively charged particles (called alpha particles). When such a particle is released from the nucleus of an atom which is radioactive, the mass of the nucleus decreases by 4 AMUs and the atomic number of the atom decreases by two (the atom loses two protons).
· Beta Radiation
o The second type of radioactivity, called beta radiation, consists of a stream of electrons (called beta particles). When such a particle is released from the atom, a neutron is converted into a proton in the nucleus of the atom, thereby increasing the atomic number of the atom by one while leaving the mass number of the atom unchanged.
· Gamma Radiation
o The third type of radioactivity, called gamma radiation, consists of gamma rays (rays with the highest frequency on the electromagnetic spectrum). Gamma rays are released from the atom in result of an energy change within the nucleus of the atom. When gamma radiation occurs, neither the atomic number nor mass is affected, although the nucleus becomes more stable. 