Changes

=== Rate of decay ===

=== Rate of decay ===

The rate of decay of a radioactive material is constant.  This is based upon [[quantum dynamics]].<ref>''Principles of Quantum Mechanics'' page 89</ref><!-- I cannot find any YEC articles that suggest otherwise with any supporting evidence beyond conjecture.  If any change is to be made, please refute with www.talkorigins.org/indexcc/CF/CF210.html www.talkorigins.org/faqs/hovind/howgood-c14.html#R2 -- Furthermore, remember there is more than C14 out there.-->

The rate of decay of a radioactive material is constant.  This is based upon knowledge of [[quantum mechanics]] and the structure of the atom.<ref>''Principles of Quantum Mechanics'' page 89</ref><!-- I cannot find any YEC articles that suggest otherwise with any supporting evidence beyond conjecture.  If any change is to be made, please refute with www.talkorigins.org/indexcc/CF/CF210.html www.talkorigins.org/faqs/hovind/howgood-c14.html#R2 -- Furthermore, remember there is more than C14 out there.-->Atoms consist of a heavy central core called the [[nucleus]] surrounded by clouds of lightweight particles (electrons), called [[electron shell]]s. The energy locked in the nucleus is enormous, but fortunately it cannot easily be released. The phenomenon we know as heat is simply the jiggling around of atoms and their components, so in principle a high enough temperature could cause the components of the core to break out. However, the temperature required to do this is in in the millions of degrees, so this cannot be achieved by any natural process that we know about. The second way that a nucleus could be disrupted is by particles striking it. However, the nucleus has a strong positive charge and the electron shells have a string negative charge. Any incoming negative charge would be deflected by the electron shell and any positive charge that penetrated the electron shells would be deflected by positive charge of the nucleus.

=== Outside influences ===

=== Outside influences ===