What is the decay product of uranium-238?

Answer 1

U-238 is the most abundant (99.3%) of the three naturally occurring isotopes of Uranium. The other two are U-235 and U-234.

U-238 decays spontaneously to Thorium-234 by alpha particle emission. This decays by beta decay to Protactinium-234 and then that undergoes beta decay to become U-234.

There are many more decay steps by alpha and beta emission. The end result is Lead-206 which is stable.

The full path can be found in the Argonne National Laboratories Human Health Fact Sheet, August 2005, titled Natural Decay Series: Uranium, Radium, and Thorium

This is found at:
http://www.ead.anl.gov/pub/doc/natural-decay-series.pdf

Answer 2

Lead, specifically a lead isotope - Pb 206. The decay sequence of uranium actually includes two unstable lead isotopes, 214Pb, with a half-life of 26.8 minutes, and 210Pb with a half-life of 22 years.

Answer 3

Uranium decay first to thorium isotopes and after this is following a long radioactive decay chain down to stable isotopes of lead.

Answer 4

Uranium-238 emits an alpha particle and becomes thorium-234.

Answer 5

The decay product of uranium-238 is thorium-234.

Answer 6

Pb-206, and it takes 4.5 billion years.