An Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics

A series of nuclear decays produced by successive → daughter products, when the daughters are themselves → radioactive. For example, the decay chain N₁→ N₂→ N₃→ … in which the parent nuclide N₁ decays to the daughter N₂, which in turn decays to N₃. Each → radionuclide in the decay chain can → branch to more than one daughter.

See also: → decay; → chain.