What is the name of the most radioactive isotope on the planet?
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The shorter the half-life of a nuclide, the more radioactive it is. Half-life is a measure of the stability of a nuclide. “Nuclide” is one of two terms used to refer to a specific number of protons and a specific number of neutrons combined into a nucleus of an atom. The other term, “isotope”, has exactly the same meaning. I prefer “nuclide” as it emphasizes that I am interested in the nucleus.
The range of the number of protons that have been observed in nuclides is from 1 to 118. All but one of those only occur if neutrons are also in the nuclide. That one is a single proton, which is 1 Hydrogen. The number of neutrons that have been observed in nuclides range from 1 to 177. That upper limit may increase with our ability to detect nuclides with shorter and shorter half-lives. So the number of conceivable nuclides is at least 118 times 177 = 20886. Of that number less than 5000 have been observed. We could say that the other 15 thousand are too radioactive to exist.
With that brief background:
The most radioactive nuclide to exist naturally on Earth has to be something that is continually made. That would be Tritium (3H), which is made when a cosmic ray neutron hits a Nitrogen atom in the upper atmosphere. “Tritium occurs naturally due to cosmic rays interacting with atmospheric gases. In the most important reaction for natural production, a fast neutron (which must have energy greater than 4.0 MeV ) interacts with atmospheric nitrogen.Worldwide, the production of tritium from natural sources is 148,000 terabecquerelsper year. The global equilibrium inventory of tritium created by natural sources remains approximately constant at 2,590,000 terabecquerels. This is due to a fixed production rate and losses proportional to the inventory.”
Upon further reflection, perhaps the neutron is the most radioactive thing anywhere. Not only does it decay with a fairly short half-life of only 613.9 seconds but it can penetrate the electron clouds and merge with the nucleus, which will then be radioactive itself in some cases.
The range of the number of protons that have been observed in nuclides is from 1 to 118. All but one of those only occur if neutrons are also in the nuclide. That one is a single proton, which is 1 Hydrogen. The number of neutrons that have been observed in nuclides range from 1 to 177. That upper limit may increase with our ability to detect nuclides with shorter and shorter half-lives. So the number of conceivable nuclides is at least 118 times 177 = 20886. Of that number less than 5000 have been observed. We could say that the other 15 thousand are too radioactive to exist.
With that brief background:
The most radioactive nuclide to exist naturally on Earth has to be something that is continually made. That would be Tritium (3H), which is made when a cosmic ray neutron hits a Nitrogen atom in the upper atmosphere. “Tritium occurs naturally due to cosmic rays interacting with atmospheric gases. In the most important reaction for natural production, a fast neutron (which must have energy greater than 4.0 MeV ) interacts with atmospheric nitrogen.Worldwide, the production of tritium from natural sources is 148,000 terabecquerelsper year. The global equilibrium inventory of tritium created by natural sources remains approximately constant at 2,590,000 terabecquerels. This is due to a fixed production rate and losses proportional to the inventory.”
Upon further reflection, perhaps the neutron is the most radioactive thing anywhere. Not only does it decay with a fairly short half-life of only 613.9 seconds but it can penetrate the electron clouds and merge with the nucleus, which will then be radioactive itself in some cases.
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