Why Does Everything Decay Into Lead

Video Description

If you look at a copy of the periodic table, you might notice that basically every element after lead is labelled as radioactive. And the vast majority of those elements wind up decaying into some version of lead eventually. But why is lead so special? Hosted by: Reid Reimers ---------- Support SciShow by becoming a patron on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/scishow ---------- Huge thanks go to the following Patreon supporters for helping us keep SciShow free for everyone forever: Adam Brainard, Alex Hackman, Ash, Benjamin Carleski, Bryan Cloer, charles george, Chris Mackey, Chris Peters, Christoph Schwanke, Christopher R Boucher, DrakoEsper, Eric Jensen, Friso, Garrett Galloway, Harrison Mills, J. Copen, Jaap Westera, Jason A Saslow, Jeffrey Mckishen, Jeremy Mattern, Kenny Wilson, Kevin Bealer, Kevin Knupp, Lyndsay Brown, Matt Curls, Michelle Dove, Piya Shedden, Rizwan Kassim, Sam Lutfi ---------- Looking for SciShow elsewhere on the internet? SciShow Tangents Podcast: https://scishow-tangents.simplecast.com/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@scishow Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/scishow Instagram: http://instagram.com/thescishow Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/scishow #SciShow #science #education #learning #complexly ---------- Sources: Sources https://www.epa.gov/radiation/radioactive-decay https://www.britannica.com/science/radioactive-series https://www.britannica.com/science/magic-number-atomic-structure https://www.britannica.com/science/spontaneous-fission https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/1963/ceremony-speech/ https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/1963/mayer/facts/ https://www.aps.org/publications/apsnews/200808/physicshistory.cfm https://www.energy.gov/science/np/articles/magic-gone-neutron-number-32 https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1765480 https://home.cern/news/news/physics/potassium-nucleus-loses-some-its-magic https://phys.org/news/2013-10-evidence-nuclear-magic.html https://www.nature.com/articles/nature12226 https://www.hep.phy.cam.ac.uk/~chpotter/particleandnuclearphysics/Lecture_14_StructureOfNuclei.pdf http://nrv.jinr.ru/karpov/publications/Karpov12_IJMPE.pdf https://newscenter.lbl.gov/2009/09/24/114-confirmed/ https://www.researchgate.net/publication/282806685_A_beachhead_on_the_island_of_stability https://www.nature.com/articles/s41567-020-01136-5 https://www.arpansa.gov.au/understanding-radiation/what-is-radiation/ionising-radiation/alpha-particles#:~:text=An%20alpha%2Dparticle%20is%20identical,rays%20were%20identified%20soon%20after. https://www.atomicarchive.com/science/physics/beta-decay.html#:~:text=Negative%20beta%20decay%20is%20far%20more%20common%20than%20positive%20beta%20decay.&text=This%20form%20of%20radioactive%20decay,not%20observed%20until%20the%201960s. https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/chemistry/decay-series https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/medicine-and-dentistry/neptunium-237 https://physicsworld.com/a/bismuth-breaks-half-life-record-for-alpha-decay/ https://ch302.cm.utexas.edu/nuclear/radioactivity/selector.php?name=band-stability#:~:text=Their%20stability%20is%20determined%20by,for%20the%20very%20heavy%20elements. https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/lists/nobel-prize-awarded-women/ https://inspirehep.net/files/5b864f8e0ce7a7963b1e825cf181905e https://www.angelo.edu/faculty/kboudrea/periodic/physical_abundances.htm https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF01406719 https://www.acs.org/molecule-of-the-week/archive/o/oganesson.html Image Sources www.gettyimages.com http://tinyurl.com/2p8ah6x6 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nucleus_drawing.svg#/media/File:Nucleus_drawing.svg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Joseph_Wright_of_Derby_The_Alchemist.jpg#/media/File:Joseph_Wright_of_Derby_The_Alchemist.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thorium-232#/media/File:Decay_Chain_Thorium.svg http://tinyurl.com/2pd4v9na http://tinyurl.com/8bx9cxnc https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_shell_model#/media/File:Shells.png https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Eugene_Wigner_receiving_Medal_for_Merit_cph.3a38621.jpg#/media/File:Eugene_Wigner_receiving_Medal_for_Merit_cph.3a38621.jpg http://tinyurl.com/pptzst6s https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wigner.jpg#/media/File:Wigner.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Goeppert_Mayer#/media/File:Maria_Goeppert-Mayer.jpg http://tinyurl.com/yc3c6s7m https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Potassium.JPG#/media/File:Potassium.JPG http://tinyurl.com/ymb7t9j3 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Electron_Configuration_of_the_First_20_Elements_of_Periodic_Table_-_Chemistry_for_All_-_FuseSchool.webm