Decay product

A nuclide or substance formed when a radioactive nuclide undergoes radioactive decay. It may itself be radioactive or stable.

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Daughter nuclide: A nuclide produced by the radioactive decay of another nuclide. The immediate nuclear product of a decay is commonly called its daughter nuclide.
Nuclide: A species of atom specified by its numbers of protons and neutrons. A decay product is first identified by its resulting nuclear composition.
Radiometric dating: A method of determining age from measured parent and daughter nuclide abundances and known decay rates. Accumulated daughter products provide clocks for dating rocks and other materials.
Half-life: The time required for half the radioactive nuclei in a sample to decay. Each radioactive product has its own half-life, shaping how long it persists.
Radioactive decay: The spontaneous transformation of an unstable atomic nucleus, often accompanied by emitted particles or radiation. Decay products arise when an unstable parent nucleus transforms.
Isotope: One of multiple nuclides of the same chemical element, differing in neutron number. Products can be isotopes of the parent element or of a different element.
Radiogenic isotope: An isotope produced by radioactive decay of a parent nuclide. Radiogenic isotope abundances reveal decay histories in geological samples.
Secular equilibrium: A condition in a decay chain where a long-lived parent and shorter-lived daughters have nearly equal activities. Long-lived parents can continually replenish products until their activities approach equilibrium.
Alpha decay: Radioactive decay in which a nucleus emits a helium-4 nucleus. Alpha emission lowers the parent’s atomic number by two and mass number by four.
Atomic number: The number of protons in an atomic nucleus, which determines the element’s identity. Changes in proton number determine whether a product is a new element.