Reference no: EM131183086

1. Americium-241 primarily emits alpha radiation. The Americium-241 in your smoke detector is stored in a sealed chamber that is unlikely to break down or corrode over time. The seal can however be broken by the use of force such as using a hammer. In the unlikely event that someone in your vicinity takes a hammer to the smoke detector, how can you protect everyone from radiation?

2. Fiestaware is radioactive because the glaze used contains uranium oxide. The half-life of the uranium-238 isotope present in these dishes is about 4.5 billion years. This implies that most of Uranium-238 initially decays into thorium-234 and an alpha particle as shown in the background, but thorium-234 can further decay to emit beta particles and gamma radiation. What is the decay reaction of thorium-234?