During those processes, the radionuclide is claimed to undergo decay. These emissions are considered radiation because they're powerful enough to liberate an electron from another atom. The decay can produce a stable nuclide or will sometimes produce a replacement unstable radionuclide which can undergo further decay. Radioactive decay may be a random process at the extent of single atoms: it's impossible to predict when one particular atom will decay. A radionuclide (radioactive nuclide, radioisotope or radioactive isotope) is an atom that has excess atomic energy, making it unstable. This excess energy is often utilized in one among three ways: emitted from the nucleus as gamma radiation; transferred to at least one of its electrons to release it as a conversion electron, or wont to create and emit a replacement particle (alpha particle or beta particle) from the nucleus.
