document_title: The Phantom of the Opera

question_text: where did the phantom of the opera live

question_tokens: where did the phantom of the opera live

text: The Phantom of the Opera

text: History behind the novel[edit]

text: Leroux first decided he would become a lawyer, but after he spent his inheritance gambling he became a reporter for L’Echo de Paris. At the paper he was asked to write about and critique dramas, as well as being a courtroom reporter. With his job, he was able to travel frequently, but then he came back to Paris where he became a writer. Because of his fascination with both Edgar Allan Poe and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, he wrote a detective mystery entitled The Mystery of the Yellow Room in 1907, and four years later he published Le Fantôme de l’Opéra.[3] The novel was first published within newspapers before finally being published as a novel in 1911.[4]

text: The setting of The Phantom of the Opera came from an actual Paris opera house that Leroux had heard the rumors about from the time the opera house was finished. The details about the Palais Garnier, and rumors surrounding it, are closely linked in Leroux's writing.  The underground water tank that he had written about is accurate to this opera house, and it is still used for training firefighters. The mysteries that Leroux uses in his novel about the phantom are still mysteries. [5]

text: The Phantom of the Opera's origins came from Leroux's curiosity with the phantom being real. In the prologue he tells the readers about the phantom and the research that he did to prove the truth of the ghost. His findings connected the corpse from the opera house to the Persian phantom himself. [6] The claims from the prologue of his novel were ones that Leroux held onto even up until his death in 1927. [5]

text: Plot summary[edit]

text: In Paris in the 1880s, the Palais Garnier opera house is believed to be haunted by an entity known as the Phantom of the Opera, or simply the Opera Ghost. A stagehand named Joseph Buquet is found hanged and the rope around his neck goes missing.  At a gala performance for the retirement of the opera house's two managers, a young little-known Swedish soprano, Christine Daaé, is called upon to sing in the place of the Opera's leading soprano, Carlotta, who is ill, and her performance is an astonishing success. The Vicomte Raoul de Chagny, who was present at the performance, recognizes her as his childhood playmate and recalls his love for her. He attempts to visit her backstage, where he hears a man complimenting her from inside her dressing room. He investigates the room once Christine leaves, only to find it empty.

text: At Perros-Guirec, Christine meets with Raoul, who confronts her about the voice he heard in her room. Christine tells him she has been tutored by the Angel of Music, whom her father used to tell them about. When Raoul  suggests that she might be the victim of a prank, she storms off. Christine visits her father's grave one night, where a mysterious figure appears and plays the violin for her. Raoul attempts to confront it but is attacked and knocked out in the process.

text: Back at the Palais Garnier, the new managers receive a letter from the Phantom demanding that they allow Christine to perform the lead role of Marguerite in Faust, and that box 5 be left empty for his use, lest they perform in a house with a curse on it. The managers ignore his demands as a prank, resulting in disastrous consequences: Carlotta ends up croaking like a toad, and the chandelier suddenly drops into the audience, killing a spectator. The Phantom, having abducted Christine from her dressing room, reveals himself as a deformed man called Erik.   Erik intends to keep her in his lair with him for a few days, but she causes him to change his plans when she unmasks him and, to the horror of both, beholds his noseless, lipless, sunken-eyed face, which resembles a skull dried up by the centuries, covered in yellowed dead flesh.

text: Fearing that she will leave him, he decides to keep her with him forever, but when Christine requests release after two weeks, he agrees on the condition that she wear his ring and be faithful to him. On the roof of the opera house, Christine tells Raoul about her abduction and makes Raoul promise to take her away to a place where Erik can never find her, even if she resists. Raoul tells Christine he will act on his promise the next day, to which she agrees. However, Christine sympathizes with Erik and decides to sing for him one last time as a means of saying goodbye. Unbeknownst to Christine and Raoul, Erik has been watching them and overheard their whole conversation.

text: The following night, the enraged and jealous Erik abducts Christine during a production of Faust and tries to force her to marry him. Raoul is led by a mysterious opera regular known as "The Persian" into Erik's secret lair deep in the bowels of the opera house, but they end up trapped in a mirrored room by Erik, who threatens that unless Christine agrees to marry him, he will kill them and everyone in the Opera House by using explosives.  Christine agrees to marry Erik. Erik initially tries to drown Raoul and the Persian, using the water which would have been used to douse the explosives, but Christine begs and offers to be his "living bride", promising him not to kill herself after becoming his bride, as she had both contemplated and attempted earlier in the book. Erik eventually releases Raoul and the Persian from his torture chamber.

text: When Erik is alone with Christine, he lifts his mask to kiss her on her forehead and is given a kiss back. Erik reveals that he has never received a kiss, not even from his own mother, nor has been allowed to give one and is overcome with emotion. He and Christine then cry together and their tears "mingle". Erik later says that he has never felt so close to another human being. He allows the Persian and Raoul to escape, though not before making Christine promise that she will visit him on his death day, and return the gold ring he gave her. He also makes the Persian promise that afterward he will go to the newspaper and report his death, as he will die soon and will die "of love". Indeed, sometime later Christine returns to Erik's lair, buries him somewhere he will never be found (by Erik's request) and returns the gold ring. Afterward, a local newspaper runs the simple note: "Erik is dead".  Christine and Raoul (who finds out that Erik has killed his older brother) elope together, never to return.

text: Passages narrated directly by the Persian and the final chapter piece together Erik's life: the son of a construction business owner deformed from birth, he ran away from his native Normandy to work in fairs and in caravans, schooling himself in the arts of the circus across Europe and Asia, and eventually building trick palaces in Persia and Turkey.  Eventually, he returned to France and, wearing a mask, started his own construction business.  After being subcontracted to work on the foundations of the Palais Garnier, Erik had discreetly built himself a lair to disappear in, complete with hidden passages and other tricks that allowed him to spy on the managers.

text: Characters[edit]

text:
Erik: The Phantom of the Opera, a deformed former conjuror also referred to as the Angel of Music and the Opera Ghost. He tutors and eventually becomes obsessed with Christine Daaé.
Christine Daaé: A young Swedish soprano at the Paris Opera House with whom the Phantom falls in love.
Vicomte Raoul de Chagny: Christine's childhood friend and love interest.
The Persian: A mysterious man from Erik's past.
Comte Phillipe de Chagny: Raoul's older brother.
Armand Moncharmin and Firmin Richard: The new managers of the opera house.
Madame Giry:  The opera's box keeper.
Meg Giry: Often referred to as "Little Meg", Madame Giry's only daughter, a ballet girl.
Debienne and Poligny: The previous managers of the opera house
Carlotta: A spoiled prima donna; the lead soprano of the Paris Opera House.
Madame Valérius: Christine's elderly guardian.

text: Themes[edit]

text: Music[edit]

text: Leroux uses the operatic setting in The Phantom of the Opera to use music as a device for foreshadowing.[7] Ribière makes note that Leroux was once a theatre critic and his brother was a musician, so he was knowledgeable about music and how to use it as a framing device. She uses the example of how Leroux introduces the song Danse Macabre which means "dance of death" in the gala scene which foreshadows the graveyard scene that comes later where the Phantom plays the fiddle for Christine and attacks Raoul when he tries to intervene.

text: Drumright points out that music is evident throughout the novel in that it is the basis for Christine and Erik's relationship. Christine sees Erik as her Angel of Music that her father promised would come to her one day. The Phantom sees Christine as his musical protege, and he uses his passion for music to teach her everything he knows.[4]

text: Mystery[edit]

text: Stylistically, the novel is framed as a mystery novel as it is narrated through a detective pulling his information from various forms of research.[8] The mystery being uncovered is the Phantom who lurks through the opera house, seemingly appearing in places out of nowhere as if by magic.[9]

text: Gothic horror[edit]

text:
In his article, Fitzpatrick compares the Phantom to other monsters featured in Gothic horror novels such as Frankenstein, Dr. Jekyll, Dorian Gray, and Dracula. The Phantom has a torture chamber where he kidnaps and kills people, and the walls of the chapel in the graveyard are lined with human bones.[9] Indeed, Drumright notes that The Phantom of the Opera checks off every trope necessary to have a Gothic novel according to the Encyclopedia of Literature's description which says, “Such novels were expected to be dark and tempestuous and full of ghosts, madness, outrage,
superstition, and revenge.”[10] Although the Phantom is really just a disfigured man, he has ghost-like qualities in that no one can ever find him or his lair and he is seen as a monster. People are frightened by him because of his deformities and the  acts of violence he commits.[4]

text: Romance[edit]

text: The novel features a love triangle between the Phantom, Christine, and Raoul. Raoul is seen as Christine's childhood love whom she is familiar with and has affection for. He is rich and therefore offers her security as well as a wholesome, Christian marriage. The Phantom, on the other hand, is not familiar. He is dark, ugly, and dangerous and therefore represents the forbidden love. However, Christine is drawn to him because she sees him as her Angel of Music, and she pities his existence of loneliness and darkness.[4]

text: Critical reception[edit]

text: By the time Leroux published The Phantom of the Opera, he had already gained credibility as a crime mystery author in both French and English speaking countries. He had written six novels prior, two of which had garnered substantial popularity within their first year of publication called The Mystery of the Yellow Room and The Perfume of the Lady in Black.[7] Although previous commentators have asserted that The Phantom of the Opera did not attain as much success as these previous novels, being particularly unpopular in France where it was first published,[11] recent research into the novel's early reception and sales has indicated the contrary.[12] One book review from the New York Times expressed a disappointment in the way the phantom was portrayed, saying that the feeling of suspense and horror is lost once it is found out that the phantom is just a man and not a real ghost.[13]The majority of the notability that the novel acquired early on was due to its publication in a series of installments in French, American, and English newspapers. This serialized version of the story became important when it was read and sought out by Universal Pictures to be adapted into a movie in 1925.[11]

text: Based on the critical reviews of two modern day readers of the book, Sean Fitzpatrick and Cathleen Myers, the novel is praiseworthy for its drama, but overall it does not rise to the standards of great literature. Fitzpatrick claims that "The Phantom of the Opera is not a great book, but it is a great read."[9] He digresses that even though the book is not good enough to be in the canon of great literature, there are many aspects of it that make it fun to read such as the drama of the "whodunnit" plot, the investigative styling of the book which pretends to pull from real life newspaper articles and interviews relating to the Paris Opera House, and the character Erik (the phantom) who fills the roles of the "mad genius", disfigured monster, and one of three in a love triangle all at once. Fitzpatrick argues that all of these elements make the book good for light reading.[9] Myers agrees that the novel makes for a good "airplane read", but says that it fails in terms of being a good mystery novel. She claims that one of the book's downfalls is that one of the important characters - the mysterious Persian - is introduced too late in the storyline. Another glaring omission that she sees in the book is that the Phantom is left unexplained. Myers also criticizes Christine's love for Raoul whom she claims is an idiot, saying he "makes Jonathon Harker and Lord Godalming in Dracula look like rocket scientists."[8]

text: Adaptations[edit]

text: There have been many literary and other dramatic works based on Leroux's novel, ranging from stage musicals to films to children's books. Some well known stage and screen adaptations of the novel are the 1925 film and the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical. In Webber's musical, he was focused on writing more of a romance piece and found the book and the musical took off from there. Leroux's novel was more than just a mystery and had romance and other genres, that would appeal to more audiences. [14] Webber used accounts from within the novel in the musical as well such as the real-life event of the chandelier falling. [15] This musical even after being produced in the mid-80s, has still remained popular with people today. The musical has received more than fifty awards and is seen by many as being the most popular musical on Broadway. [14]

text: Leroux’s novel was created into two silent films during the history and adaptations of the novel. The first production of the novel into a silent film was produced by German adaptation called, Das Gespenst im Opernhaus. This film though has no living proof left and is lost due to no pictures being taken or an actual copy of the film is preserved. The last living knowledge of the film is that it was made in 1916 and was directed by Ernest Matray. [16]

text: The next adaptation or silent film was made in 1925 by Universal Studios. This version starred Lon Chaney Sr. as the phantom. Due to tensions on the set, there was a switch in directors and Edward Sedgwick finished the film while changing the direction the movie was going to take. His take on the novel and making it a dark romantic movie with comedy wasn’t popular by audiences. [16]Finally, the film was adapted one last time by Maurice Pivar and Louis Weber where they took out most of Sedgwick’s adaptation and stuck to the original film. This time, the movie was a success with audiences in 1925. [16]


document_title: House of 1000 Corpses

question_text: who played the mom in house of 1000 corpses

root

text: House of 1000 Corpses

text: Plot[edit]

text: On October 30, 1977, an attempted burglary by two masked men at a gas station goes wrong due to distraction as the owner shoots both masked men in self-defense. Later on, Jerry Goldsmith, Bill Hudley, Mary Knowles, and Denise Willis are on the road in hopes of writing a book on offbeat roadside attractions. When the four meet Captain Spaulding, the owner of a gas station and "The Museum of Monsters & Madmen", they learn the local legend of Dr. Satan. As they take off in search of the tree from which Dr. Satan was hanged, they pick up a young hitchhiker named Baby, who claims to live only a few miles away. Shortly after, the vehicle's tire bursts in what is later seen to be a trap and Baby takes Bill to her family's house. Moments later, Baby's half-brother, Rufus, picks up the stranded passengers and takes them to the family home.

tag: p

text: There they meet Baby's family: Mother Firefly, Otis Driftwood, her adopted brother, Grampa Hugo and Baby's deformed giant half-brother, Tiny. While being treated to dinner, Mother Firefly explains that her ex-husband, Earl, had previously tried to burn Tiny alive, along with the Firefly house. After dinner, the family puts on a Halloween show for their guests and Baby offends Mary by flirting with Bill. After Mary threatens Baby, Rufus tells them their car is repaired. As they leave, Otis and Tiny, disguised as scarecrows, attack the couples in the drive way and take them prisoner. The next day, Otis kills Bill and mutilates his body for art. Mary is tied up in a barn, Denise is tied to a bed while dressed up for Halloween, and Jerry is partially scalped for failing to guess Baby's favorite movie star.

text: When Denise doesn't come home, her father Don calls the police to report her missing. Two deputies, George Wydell and Steve Naish, find the couples' abandoned car in a field with a tortured victim in the trunk. Don, who was once a cop, is called to the scene to help the deputies search. They arrive at the Firefly house and Wydell questions Mother Firefly about the missing teens. Mother Firefly shoots Wydell in the neck and kills him, and Don and Steve are then killed by Otis upon finding other bodies in the barn. Later that night, the three remaining teenagers are dressed as rabbits, and taken out to an abandoned well. Mary attempts to run away, but is stabbed to death by Baby moments later. One of the family members dons the uniform of one of the deputies and drives their car, while drunk.

text: Meanwhile, Jerry and Denise are lowered into the well, where a group of undead men pull Jerry away, leaving Denise to find her way through an underground lair. As she wanders through the tunnels, she encounters Dr. Satan and a number of mental patients; Jerry is on Dr. Satan's operating table being vivisected. Dr. Satan tells his mutated assistant, who turns out to be Earl, Mother Firefly's ex-husband, to capture Denise, but Denise outwits him and escapes the chambers by crawling to the surface. She makes her way to the main road, where she encounters Captain Spaulding, who gives her a ride in his car. She passes out from exhaustion in the front seat, and Otis suddenly appears in the backseat with a knife. Denise later wakes up to find herself strapped to Dr. Satan's operating table, with Dr. Satan standing there.

text: Cast[edit]

text:
Sid Haig as Captain Spaulding
Bill Moseley as Otis
Sheri Moon Zombie as Baby
Karen Black as Mother Firefly
Erin Daniels as Denise Willis
Jennifer Jostyn as Mary Knowles
Chris Hardwick as Jerry Goldsmith
Rainn Wilson as Bill Hudley

tag: ul

text: The rest of the Firefly family includes Tiny (Matthew McGrory), Tiny's brother Rufus (Robert Allen Mukes), and Grandpa Hugo (Dennis Fimple); Other cast members include Tom Towles as Lieutenant George Wydell, Walton Goggins as Steve Neish, Harrison Young as Denise's father Don, and Walter Phelan as Dr. Satan.

text: Production[edit]

text: Development[edit]

text: Rob Zombie rose to fame as a member of the band White Zombie, before later beginning a solo career.[6] Zombie's debut album, Hellbilly Deluxe (1998), drew influence from classic horror films, as did his music videos for "Living Dead Girl" (1999) and "Superbeast" (1999).[7][8][9] The album was a commercial success, selling over three million copies in the United States.[10] Prior to working on House of 1000 Corpses, Zombie had done animation for Beavis and Butt-head Do America (1996), directed music videos, and attempted to write a script for The Crow: Salvation to no avail.[11] In 1999, Zombie designed a haunted maze attraction for Universal Studios. The project was a success, and was seen as instrumental in reviving the studios annual Halloween Horror Nights. Bill Moseley presented Zombie an award for his contribution that same year, while Zombie formed a friendship with the company.[4] The studio later began working on an animated Frankenstein film which Zombie hoped to be a part of, though plans for the film were ultimately scrapped by the studio.[12]

text: The idea for House of 1000 Corpses came to Zombie while designing a haunted house attraction for the studio titled "The House of 1000 Corpses".[12] This gave Zombie the initial idea for the film, which he later pitched to Universal to a positive reception.[12] Zombie later stated "I was in the office of the head of production or something and he asked me if I had any movie ideas and I pitched him Corpses, which was very rough at the time, because I wasn't ready and I made it up on the spot. He liked it, I went home, wrote a 12-page treatment and met up with them. Two months later, we were shooting."[13] Production on the film began in May 2000.[4] Zombie stated that the film was finished by Halloween of 2000.[12] The house was launched the following year, though the title was changed to "American Nightmare" due to the shelving of the film.[12] Despite the name change, the house still featured numerous references to the film, and the theatrical trailer played while customers waited.[12]

text: The starting budget of the film was $3–4 million, though the film's final budget is debatable.[4] Zombie at one point claimed that the film was made solely with the initial $4 million, though in a later interview claimed the film had received a budget of anywhere between $7-14 million.[14] Zombie later admitted that he initially knew he didn't have the funding for a good ending but hedged his bets that if he shot what he could on what remained of his budget, the studio would kick in more funds to make a better ending. "I knew the ending sucked, so I let it suck and they said, "The movie's great but the ending sucks" and I know. So they gave me more money and we shot a more elaborate ending, bigger sets, the whole razzamatazz."[12] The original film featured more characters, with Zombie mentioning a "skunk ape thing", and featured footage of the four teenagers on their road trip.[15] Universal hoped that the film would focus more on the group of kids, with Zombie stating "nobody gives a shit about the kids".[15] Zombie claimed the film was not initially meant to feature elements of black humor, claiming it "turned out a little wackier and campier than I originally intended. But as we were shooting, that's the tone that it was turning out to be. Movies sometimes dictate their own course, so I just sort of went with it."[16]

text: The film was shot on a twenty-five-day shooting schedule. Two weeks were spent filming on the Universal Studios Hollywood backlots — the house featured in the film is the same house used in The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982), and can be seen on Universal Studios' tram tours.[4][17] Zombie stated that filming on the lot was at times difficult, as the amusement park would often be open and would ruin takes.[12] The remaining eleven days of the shoot were spent on a ranch in Valencia, California.[4] The scene involving Bill being transformed into "Fishboy" was initially much longer, featuring gory details of the creation of the monster.[15] Zombie stated the scene was created after Universal passed on the film.[15] Scenes featuring Baby masturbating with a skeleton, along with other cutaway scenes, were filmed in Zombie's basement after initial filming for the project had concluded. Zombie later cited home recordings from the Manson family as inspiration for the Firefly family's "bizarre" rants. Zombie often filmed two versions of scenes, one of which would be less gory, in an attempt to please Universal.[citation needed]

text: Jake McKinnon could not see well when dressed as The Professor, and almost hit actress Erin Daniels with a real ax during the film's climax. Zombie later claimed he simply hoped Daniels would move out of the way in time. When Denise calls her father from a telephone booth, a sign for a missing dog head can be seen hanging in the booth; this was in fact a real item found by Zombie and used for the film. In the early stages of the film, Grandpa Hugo was to be revealed as the murderous Dr. Satan, who at the time was simply referred to as the mad doctor. The legend of the mad doctor was to be a ploy by the Firefly family to lure victims in, though this idea was later scrapped. This led to Grandpa Hugo receiving much less screen-time. The character of Dr. Satan was inspired by a 1950s billboard-sized poster advertising a "live spook show starring a magician called Dr. Satan" that Zombie has in his house.[18]

text: Casting[edit]

text: The film's main cast consisted of the murderous Firefly family, the four teenagers and various police officers attempting to find the group, among others.[19] Sid Haig was cast as Captain Spaulding, a man who dresses as a clown and owns a gas station and museum of curiosities.[19] Haig claimed he had to "get in touch with [his] own insanity" for the role.[20] His relation to the Firefly family is not revealed in the film, though he is working with them to some extent; however, the sequel establishes that he is the father of Baby. Bill Moseley starred as Otis B. Driftwood, who was adopted into the Firefly family. Sheri Moon Zombie portrayed Baby Firefly, who became known for her high pitched laugh and sexual nature.[15] Karen Black was cast as Mother Firefly, the protective mother to the family.[21] Matthew McGrory portrayed Tiny Firefly, a tall man who was left deformed after a house fire started by his father.[22] Robert Allen Mukes portrayed Rufus "RJ" Firefly. Jr. Dennis Fimple was selected to play Grampa Hugo Firefly. He died following filming, and the finished product was dedicated to him.[19]

text: The names members of the Firefly family were taken from the names of Groucho Marx characters. Captain Spaulding was a character in Animal Crackers (1930), Otis B. Driftwood was a character in A Night at the Opera (1935), Rufus T. Firefly was taken from Duck Soup (1933), and lastly Hugo Z. Hackenbush derived from A Day at the Races (1937). Despite only allusions to this being made in House of 1000 Corpses, it is more prevalent in the film's sequel, with the names becoming integral to the plot.[23] Zombie acknowledged that viewers were meant to "root for" the Firefly family as opposed to the group of teens, though claims it wasn't intentional: "Yeah, I wanted the audience to cheer 'em. I didn't consciously think of it at the time, because I was trying to make Bill and Jerry likeable. But it's like when you saw Beetlejuice and you could tell all Tim Burton cared about was Beetlejuice."[15]

text: Erin Daniels portrayed Denise Willis. Chris Hardwick was cast as Jerry Goldsmith, a young man who was seen as "hyper" and "wise-cracking".[23] The character Bill Hudley was portrayed by Rainn Wilson. House of 1000 Corpses served as one of Wilson's first films, though he would later go on to find mainstream success following the film's release.[24] Mary Knowles, Bill's girlfriend, was played by Jennifer Jostyn. Mary was seen as the most confrontational of the group, often clashing with Baby due to her flirtatious relationship with Bill. Harrison Young was selected to play Don Willis, the father of Denise who later goes looking for her and her group of friends. Tom Towles and Walton Goggins portrayed Lieutenant George Wydell and Deputy Steve Naish, respectively; the pair work with Don to find the missing group.[19]

text: Irwin Keyes was cast as Ravelli, the assistant to Captain Spaulding who helps run the tourist attraction. Michael J. Pollard portrayed Stucky, a friend of Captain Spaulding and Ravelli's. Chad Bannon and David Reynolds played Killer Karl and Richard "Little Dick" Wick, two men who try to rob Captain Spaulding's shop and are murdered. William H. Basset had a small role in the film as Sheriff Frank Huston. Joe Dobbs III played Gerry Ober, a man who works at the liquor store; he is later given the nickname "Goober" by Baby. Gregg Gibbs appeared as Dr. Wolfenstein during the "murder ride". Zombie made a cameo appearance as Dr. Wolfenstein's assistant. Despite initially planning to appear as Dr. Wolfenstein, Zombie opted to be his assistant instead, believing he would look "normal" in costume. Walter Phelan was cast as Dr. Satan, whose real name was S. Quintin Quale.

text: Music[edit]

text: The score for the film was composed by Zombie, alongside Canadian producer Scott Humphrey. Much of the production work for the soundtrack to the film was done in Humphrey's studio, The Chop Shop.[25][26] The film's score featured similar musical themes to Zombie's releases, consisting of heavy metal influences. MTV said the music mixed "snippets of ominous hillbilly dialogue with grim horror movie rock."[27] While making the movie, Zombie joked with his manager that he should do a cover of "Brick House" (1977), originally performed by Commodores. His manager later got both Lionel Richie and female rapper Trina to appear on a cover of the song with Zombie, under the title "Brick House 2003".[27] Aside from making audio clips and snippets for the film, Zombie recorded a variety of new songs for the film's soundtrack. The song "House of 1000 Corpses", taken from Zombie's album The Sinister Urge (2001), is also present.[28] The soundtrack, released on March 25, 2003, made an appearance on the Billboard 200 chart in the United States. The soundtrack to the film is isolated on home video releases of the film as a separate audio track.

text: Release[edit]

text: Prior to agreeing to release the film through Universal, Zombie reportedly told the studio of the film's nature, stating "I was really blatant when I talked to them. I didn't want to get into a situation where they thought I was making something mainstream. And I told them that I wanted to make a drive-in movie, something very gritty and nasty and weird."[16] Production of the film was completed in 2000, and was set for release through Universal. The studio completed a theatrical trailer for the film, which was shown in theaters and prior to the Universal ride created by Zombie.[16] Zombie later received a call for a meeting with Stacey Snider, head of Universal, requesting a meeting. Zombie recalled fearing that the studio would demand a re-shoot, though he later learned that Snider's fears of the film receiving an NC-17 rating had led to the company's refusal to release the film.[29] The film remained shelved for several months, with Zombie eventually purchasing the rights to the film from Universal. Zombie claimed that many urged him to scrap the film following the fallout with Universal, though he continued to search for a new distributor.

text: Zombie later made a deal with MGM to release the film, with MGM slating an October 2002 release for the film.[30] Despite this, MGM later refused to release the film following a controversial remark from Zombie claiming that the company had no morals for releasing the film.[31] Zombie later announced plans to release the film himself, without the backing of a production company.[32] Despite this, Zombie eventually caught the eye of Lions Gate Entertainment, the final studio to sign on for the project.[31] Lions Gate, attempting to venture into new types of films, hoped releasing a horror film would provide more opportunities.[31] The film was cut and edited in an attempt to achieve an R-rating, with Zombie claiming that most of the cut footage featured Sherri Moon Zombie's character.[33]

text: The first public screening of the film occurred in Argentina on March 13, 2003.[citation needed] House of 1000 Corpses received its theatrical release on April 11, 2003. The film made its debut in the United Kingdom at Fright Fest, and was the fastest selling event of the night.[13] House of 1000 Corpses grossed $3,460,666 on a limited opening weekend, while boasting $2,522,026 on its official opening. The film opened in second at the box office, behind the comedy film Anger Management (2003).[13] It went on to gross $12,634,962 in the United States alone, with an additional $4,194,583 accumulated worldwide. The film's reported gross is $16,829,545. According to Zombie, Lions Gate Entertainment made back their investment on the film on the first day, and shortly afterwards approached Zombie about a sequel to the film.[13] Having already begun developing ideas for a sequel, Zombie quickly began work on a follow-up.

text: It received a home video release on August 12, 2003. For the main menu of the film, Zombie had Sid Haig perform in character as an added bonus.[34] The Blu-ray edition of the film was released on September 18, 2007.[35] The Blu-ray edition of the film features the added menu content with Haig, as well as the bonus features found on its initial release. The film was released alongside The Devil's Rejects (2005) in a combo-pack on January 4, 2011.[36] Zombie spoke in 2003 of releasing a "super-duper deluxe" edition of the film on DVD, which he hoped would include the footage of the scrapped characters, as well as deleted footage from the film's death scenes; Zombie also claimed the "fishboy" scene was initially much gorier, and he hoped to include added footage for that scene.[15] Despite Zombie's claims, this version of the film is yet to be released.

text: Reception[edit]

text: House of 1000 Corpses received a generally negative critical reception upon its release. Frank Scheck of The Hollywood Reporter wrote that the film "lives up to the spirit but not the quality of its inspirations" and is ultimately a "cheesy and ultragory exploitation horror flick" and "strangely devoid of thrills, shocks or horror."[37] Clint Morris of Film Threat slammed the film as "an hour and a half of undecipherable plot" and found the film to be "sickening" overall.[5] James Brundage of Filmcritic.com wrote that the film was simply "hick after hick, cheap scary image after cheap scary image, lots of southern accents and psychotic murders," and was "too highbrow to be a good cheap horror movie, too lowbrow to be satire, and too boring to bear the value of the ticket."[38] Slant Magazine gave the film two out of four stars, stating "If not for the blink-and-miss sideshow attractions and stockpile of memorable quotes, [House of] 1000 Corpses would have been easier to shrug off. This vintage curio is proudly and humorously derivative but that familiar aftertaste is that of wasted opportunities."[39] The New York Times also had a negative review of the film, writing "As much as film buffs might enjoy recognizing references to Motel Hell and other drive-in classics, Mr. Zombie's encyclopedic approach to the genre results in a crowded, frenzied film in which no single idea is developed to a satisfying payoff." [40] The review also criticized the cutaway scenes and home footage used throughout the film, adding "Mr. Zombie is both too much of a stylist, always cutting away to oddball inserts, black-and-white flashbacks, negative images and much else, and too little: he is not in enough control of his means to let a mood grow and fester. And festering is what this kind of film is all about."[40]

text: JoBlo.com had a more positive view of the film, claiming it "slaps together just the right amount of creepy atmosphere, nervous laughter, cheap scares, fun rides and blood and guts to satisfy any major fan of the macabre."[41] Horror Express gave the film a generally positive review, claiming "He has succeeded for the most part, but really this is only a film Rob Zombie could do. Beyond the harkening back to the old days, there are instances where Zombie's signature style comes through. It's a style he has honed over the years through his videos, animations and music. Grotesque imagery is shown through skewed camera angles as grinning faces watch on. A use of bright fluorescents almost creates a deceptive atmosphere of childlike innocence as the devils perfect their craft on screen."[42] Entertainment Weekly gave it a C+, saying "House of 1000 Corpses "isn’t coherent, exactly, but what dripping-ghoul horror movie is these days? The new rule is, It’s not hip to make sense when you’re raising hell."[43] Maitland McDonagh of TV Guide gave the film two out of four stars, stating " It is ugly — in the distinctively washed out, grainy, slightly burned manner of low-budget '70s films — gory and single-mindedly mean, none of which is a criticism since that's exactly what it wants to be."[44] The project was well received by the LA Times, who wrote "Let's give the devil his due. Zombie, who displays a natural flair for the cinematic, has a real appreciation and knowledge of horror pictures and a Diane Arbus-like affinity for sleazy, bizarre Americana and schlock culture. Throughout his fast-moving movie he inserts vintage clips in a witty, telling manner, and as to be expected, Zombie, with Scott Humphries, has come through with a rip-roaring score for his picture."[45] The film has a 19% "rotten" rating on film review website Rotten Tomatoes, based on eighty reviews, saying "There's an abundance of gore in this derivative horror movie, but little sense or wit." [46] It has a Metacritic score of 31, signifying "generally unfavorable reviews".[47]

text: Since its initial release, the film has gone on to gain a cult following.[48][49][50][51] In his 2007 review of the Blu-ray release, Christopher Monfette of IGN called the film "fun as hell", writing "House of 1000 Corpses is a messy film — veering this way and that across the genre map with no discernible destination. But viewed less a movie and more as an experience, the film offers a certain degree of inspired insanity and a healthy dose of carnival-like madness".[52] Zombie has acknowledged the film's cult status, stating "Now, a decade later, it's become a pretty loved movie among people. It's great that we have this big celebration. I love seeing Sid Haig and the other actors get such great attention from it. The funny thing is, ten years becomes a long time. I'll meet someone who's eighteen-years-old, and that's always been a film that they've loved. It's funny that the film's been around that long to be like that for some people."[53] CinemaBlend also wrote of the film's cult status, stating "While his Halloween films were a mess, Zombie did bring something new with his original films House of 1000 Corpses and The Devil's Rejects, developing a cult following for his movies on top of the one he earned for his music. Say what you will about him as a director, but there's no denying that he has a unique vision."[54] Zombie has gone on to dismiss the film following its release, saying "The first film [I directed], which people seems to love, is just a calamitous mess. Well, when it came out it seemed like everyone hated it. Now everyone acts like it's beloved in some way. All I see is flaw, upon flaw, upon flaw... upon flaw."[55] The success of the film led to a sequel, released in 2005, and later a seasonal haunted house attraction at Universal Studios Hollywood.[56]


document_title: Radioactive decay

question_text: why do some atoms decay and emit radioactive rays

question_tokens: why do some atoms decay and emit radioactive rays

text: Radioactive decay

text: History of discovery[edit]

text: Radioactivity was discovered in 1896 by the French scientist Henri Becquerel, while working with phosphorescent materials.[7] These materials glow in the dark after exposure to light, and he suspected that the glow produced in cathode ray tubes by X-rays might be associated with phosphorescence. He wrapped a photographic plate in black paper and placed various phosphorescent salts on it. All results were negative until he used uranium salts. The uranium salts caused a blackening of the plate in spite of the plate being wrapped in black paper. These radiations were given the name "Becquerel Rays".

text: It soon became clear that the blackening of the plate had nothing to do with phosphorescence, as the blackening was also produced by non-phosphorescent salts of uranium and metallic uranium. It became clear from these experiments that there was a form of invisible radiation that could pass through paper and was causing the plate to react as if exposed to light.

text: At first, it seemed as though the new radiation was similar to the then recently discovered X-rays. Further research by Becquerel, Ernest Rutherford, Paul Villard, Pierre Curie, Marie Curie, and others showed that this form of radioactivity was significantly more complicated. Rutherford was the first to realize that all such elements decay in accordance with the same mathematical exponential formula. Rutherford and his student Frederick Soddy were the first to realize that many decay processes resulted in the transmutation of one element to another. Subsequently, the radioactive displacement law of Fajans and Soddy was formulated to describe the products of alpha and beta decay.[8][9]

text: The early researchers also discovered that many other chemical elements, besides uranium, have radioactive isotopes. A systematic search for the total radioactivity in uranium ores also guided Pierre and Marie Curie to isolate two new elements: polonium and radium. Except for the radioactivity of radium, the chemical similarity of radium to barium made these two elements difficult to distinguish.

text: Marie and Pierre Curie’s study of radioactivity is an important factor in science and medicine. After their research on Becquerel's rays led them to the discovery of both radium and polonium, they coined the term "radioactivity".[10] Their research on the penetrating rays in uranium and the discovery of radium launched an era of using radium for the treatment of cancer. Their exploration of radium could be seen as the first peaceful use of nuclear energy and the start of modern nuclear medicine.[10]

text: Early health dangers[edit]

text: The dangers of ionizing radiation due to radioactivity and X-rays were not immediately recognized.

text: X-rays[edit]

text: The discovery of x‑rays by Wilhelm Röntgen in 1895 led to widespread experimentation by scientists, physicians, and inventors. Many people began recounting stories of burns, hair loss and worse in technical journals as early as 1896. In February of that year, Professor Daniel and Dr. Dudley of Vanderbilt University performed an experiment involving X-raying Dudley's head that resulted in his hair loss. A report by Dr. H.D. Hawks, of his suffering severe hand and chest burns in an X-ray demonstration, was the first of many other reports in Electrical Review.[11]

text: Other experimenters, including Elihu Thomson and Nikola Tesla, also reported burns. Thomson deliberately exposed a finger to an X-ray tube over a period of time and suffered pain, swelling, and blistering.[12] Other effects, including ultraviolet rays and ozone, were sometimes blamed for the damage,[13] and many physicians still claimed that there were no effects from X-ray exposure at all.[12]

text: Despite this, there were some early systematic hazard investigations, and as early as 1902 William Herbert Rollins wrote almost despairingly that his warnings about the dangers involved in the careless use of X-rays were not being heeded, either by industry or by his colleagues. By this time, Rollins had proved that X-rays could kill experimental animals, could cause a pregnant guinea pig to abort, and that they could kill a fetus.[14] He also stressed that "animals vary in susceptibility to the external action of X-light" and warned that these differences be considered when patients were treated by means of X-rays.

text: Radioactive substances[edit]

text: However, the biological effects of radiation due to radioactive substances were less easy to gauge. This gave the opportunity for many physicians and corporations to market radioactive substances as patent medicines. Examples were radium enema treatments, and radium-containing waters to be drunk as tonics. Marie Curie protested against this sort of treatment, warning that the effects of radiation on the human body were not well understood. Curie later died from aplastic anaemia, likely caused by exposure to ionizing radiation. By the 1930s, after a number of cases of bone necrosis and death of radium treatment enthusiasts, radium-containing medicinal products had been largely removed from the market (radioactive quackery).

text: Radiation protection[edit]

text: Only a year after Röntgen's discovery of X rays, the American engineer Wolfram Fuchs (1896) gave what is probably the first protection advice, but it was not until 1925 that the first International Congress of Radiology (ICR) was held and considered establishing international protection standards. The effects of radiation on genes, including the effect of cancer risk, were recognized much later. In 1927, Hermann Joseph Muller published research showing genetic effects and, in 1946, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his findings.

text: The second ICR was held in Stockholm in 1928 and proposed the adoption of the rontgen unit, and the 'International X-ray and Radium Protection Committee' (IXRPC) was formed. Rolf Sievert was named Chairman, but a driving force was George Kaye of the British National Physical Laboratory. The committee met in 1931, 1934 and 1937.

text: After World War II, the increased range and quantity of radioactive substances being handled as a result of military and civil nuclear programmes led to large groups of occupational workers and the public being potentially exposed to harmful levels of ionising radiation. This was considered at the first post-war ICR convened in London in 1950, when the present International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) was born.[15] Since then the ICRP has developed the present international system of radiation protection, covering all aspects of radiation hazard.

text: Units of radioactivity[edit]

text: The International System of Units (SI) unit of radioactive activity is the becquerel (Bq), named in honor of the scientist Henri Becquerel. One Bq is defined as one transformation (or decay or disintegration) per second.

text: An older unit of radioactivity is the curie, Ci, which was originally defined as "the quantity or mass of radium emanation in equilibrium with one gram of radium (element)".[16] Today, the curie is defined as 7010370000000000000♠3.7×1010 disintegrations per second, so that 1 curie (Ci) = 7010370000000000000♠3.7×1010 Bq. For radiological protection purposes, although the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission permits the use of the unit curie alongside SI units,[17] the European Union European units of measurement directives required that its use for "public health ... purposes" be phased out by 31 December 1985.[18]

text: The effects of ionizing radiation are often measured in units of gray for mechanical or sievert for damage to tissue.

text: Types of decay[edit]

text: Early researchers found that an electric or magnetic field could split radioactive emissions into three types of beams. The rays were given the names alpha, beta, and gamma, in increasing order of their ability to penetrate matter. Alpha decay is observed only in heavier elements of atomic number 52 (tellurium) and greater, with the exception of beryllium-8 which decays to two alpha particles. The other two types of decay are produced by all of the elements. Lead, atomic number 82, is the heaviest element to have any isotopes stable (to the limit of measurement) to radioactive decay. Radioactive decay is seen in all isotopes of all elements of atomic number 83 (bismuth) or greater. Bismuth, however, is only very slightly radioactive, with a half-life greater than the age of the universe; radioisotopes with extremely long half-lives are considered effectively stable for practical purposes.

text: In analysing the nature of the decay products, it was obvious from the direction of the electromagnetic forces applied to the radiations by external magnetic and electric fields that alpha particles carried a positive charge, beta particles carried a negative charge, and gamma rays were neutral. From the magnitude of deflection, it was clear that alpha particles were much more massive than beta particles. Passing alpha particles through a very thin glass window and trapping them in a discharge tube allowed researchers to study the emission spectrum of the captured particles, and ultimately proved that alpha particles are helium nuclei. Other experiments showed beta radiation, resulting from decay and cathode rays, were high-speed electrons. Likewise, gamma radiation and X-rays were found to be high-energy electromagnetic radiation.

text: The relationship between the types of decays also began to be examined: For example, gamma decay was almost always found to be associated with other types of decay, and occurred at about the same time, or afterwards. Gamma decay as a separate phenomenon, with its own half-life (now termed isomeric transition), was found in natural radioactivity to be a result of the gamma decay of excited metastable nuclear isomers, which were in turn created from other types of decay.

text: Although alpha, beta, and gamma radiations were most commonly found, other types of emission were eventually discovered. Shortly after the discovery of the positron in cosmic ray products, it was realized that the same process that operates in classical beta decay can also produce positrons (positron emission), along with neutrinos (classical beta decay produces antineutrinos). In a more common analogous process, called electron capture, some proton-rich nuclides were found to capture their own atomic electrons instead of emitting positrons, and subsequently these nuclides emit only a neutrino and a gamma ray from the excited nucleus (and often also Auger electrons and characteristic X-rays, as a result of the re-ordering of electrons to fill the place of the missing captured electron). These types of decay involve the nuclear capture of electrons or emission of electrons or positrons, and thus acts to move a nucleus toward the ratio of neutrons to protons that has the least energy for a given total number of nucleons. This consequently produces a more stable (lower energy) nucleus.

text: (A theoretical process of positron capture, analogous to electron capture, is possible in antimatter atoms, but has not been observed, as complex antimatter atoms beyond antihelium are not experimentally available.[19] Such a decay would require antimatter atoms at least as complex as beryllium-7, which is the lightest known isotope of normal matter to undergo decay by electron capture.)

text: Shortly after the discovery of the neutron in 1932, Enrico Fermi realized that certain rare beta-decay reactions immediately yield neutrons as a decay particle (neutron emission). Isolated proton emission was eventually observed in some elements. It was also found that some heavy elements may undergo spontaneous fission into products that vary in composition. In a phenomenon called cluster decay, specific combinations of neutrons and protons other than alpha particles (helium nuclei) were found to be spontaneously emitted from atoms.

text: Other types of radioactive decay were found to emit previously-seen particles, but via different mechanisms. An example is internal conversion, which results in an initial electron emission, and then often further characteristic X-rays and Auger electrons emissions, although the internal conversion process involves neither beta nor gamma decay. A neutrino is not emitted, and none of the electron(s) and photon(s) emitted originate in the nucleus, even though the energy to emit all of them does originate there. Internal conversion decay, like isomeric transition gamma decay and neutron emission, involves the release of energy by an excited nuclide, without the transmutation of one element into another.

text: Rare events that involve a combination of two beta-decay type events happening simultaneously are known (see below). Any decay process that does not violate the conservation of energy or momentum laws (and perhaps other particle conservation laws) is permitted to happen, although not all have been detected. An interesting example discussed in a final section, is bound state beta decay of rhenium-187. In this process, beta electron-decay of the parent nuclide is not accompanied by beta electron emission, because the beta particle has been captured into the K-shell of the emitting atom. An antineutrino is emitted, as in all negative beta decays.

text: Radionuclides can undergo a number of different reactions. These are summarized in the following table. A nucleus with mass number A and atomic number Z is represented as (A, Z). The column "Daughter nucleus" indicates the difference between the new nucleus and the original nucleus. Thus, (A − 1, Z) means that the mass number is one less than before, but the atomic number is the same as before.

text: If energy circumstances are favorable, a given radionuclide may undergo many competing types of decay, with some atoms decaying by one route, and others decaying by another. An example is copper-64, which has 29 protons, and 35 neutrons, which decays with a half-life of about 12.7 hours. This isotope has one unpaired proton and one unpaired neutron, so either the proton or the neutron can decay to the opposite particle. This particular nuclide (though not all nuclides in this situation) is almost equally likely to decay through positron emission (18%), or through electron capture (43%), as it does through electron emission (39%). The excited energy states resulting from these decays which fail to end in a ground energy state, also produce later internal conversion and gamma decay in almost 0.5% of the time.

text: More common in heavy nuclides is competition between alpha and beta decay. The daughter nuclides will then normally decay through beta or alpha, respectively, to end up in the same place.

text:
Mode of decay
Participating particles
Daughter nucleus

Decays with emission of nucleons:

Alpha decay
An alpha particle (A = 4, Z = 2) emitted from nucleus
(A − 4, Z − 2)

Proton emission
A proton ejected from nucleus
(A − 1, Z − 1)

Neutron emission
A neutron ejected from nucleus
(A − 1, Z)

Double proton emission
Two protons ejected from nucleus simultaneously
(A − 2, Z − 2)

Spontaneous fission
Nucleus disintegrates into two or more smaller nuclei and other particles
—

Cluster decay
Nucleus emits a specific type of smaller nucleus (A1, Z1) which is larger than an alpha particle
(A − A1, Z − Z1) + (A1, Z1)

Different modes of beta decay:

β− decay
A nucleus emits an electron and an electron antineutrino
(A, Z + 1)

Positron emission (β+ decay)
A nucleus emits a positron and an electron neutrino
(A, Z − 1)

Electron capture
A nucleus captures an orbiting electron and emits a neutrino; the daughter nucleus is left in an excited unstable state
(A, Z − 1)

Bound state beta decay
A free neutron or nucleus beta decays to electron and antineutrino, but the electron is not emitted, as it is captured into an empty K-shell; the daughter nucleus is left in an excited and unstable state. This process is a minority of free neutron decays (0.0004%) due to the low energy of hydrogen ionization, and is suppressed except in ionized atoms that have K-shell vacancies.
(A, Z + 1)

Double beta decay
A nucleus emits two electrons and two antineutrinos
(A, Z + 2)

Double electron capture
A nucleus absorbs two orbital electrons and emits two neutrinos – the daughter nucleus is left in an excited and unstable state
(A, Z − 2)

Electron capture with positron emission
A nucleus absorbs one orbital electron, emits one positron and two neutrinos
(A, Z − 2)

Double positron emission
A nucleus emits two positrons and two neutrinos
(A, Z − 2)

Transitions between states of the same nucleus:

Isomeric transition
Excited nucleus releases a high-energy photon (gamma ray)
(A, Z)

Internal conversion
Excited nucleus transfers energy to an orbital electron, which is subsequently ejected from the atom
(A, Z)

tag: table

text: Radioactive decay results in a reduction of summed rest mass, once the released energy (the disintegration energy) has escaped in some way. Although decay energy is sometimes defined as associated with the difference between the mass of the parent nuclide products and the mass of the decay products, this is true only of rest mass measurements, where some energy has been removed from the product system. This is true because the decay energy must always carry mass with it, wherever it appears (see mass in special relativity) according to the formula E = mc2. The decay energy is initially released as the energy of emitted photons plus the kinetic energy of massive emitted particles (that is, particles that have rest mass). If these particles come to thermal equilibrium with their surroundings and photons are absorbed, then the decay energy is transformed to thermal energy, which retains its mass.

text: Decay energy therefore remains associated with a certain measure of mass of the decay system, called invariant mass, which does not change during the decay, even though the energy of decay is distributed among decay particles. The energy of photons, the kinetic energy of emitted particles, and, later, the thermal energy of the surrounding matter, all contribute to the invariant mass of the system. Thus, while the sum of the rest masses of the particles is not conserved in radioactive decay, the system mass and system invariant mass (and also the system total energy) is conserved throughout any decay process. This is a restatement of the equivalent laws of conservation of energy and conservation of mass.

text: Radioactive decay rates[edit]

text: The decay rate, or activity, of a radioactive substance is characterized by:

text: Constant quantities:

text:
The half-life—t1/2, is the time taken for the activity of a given amount of a radioactive substance to decay to half of its initial value; see List of nuclides.
The decay constant— λ, "lambda" the reciprocal of the mean lifetime, sometimes referred to as simply decay rate.
The mean lifetime— τ, "tau" the average lifetime (1/e life) of a radioactive particle before decay.

text: Although these are constants, they are associated with the statistical behavior of populations of atoms. In consequence, predictions using these constants are less accurate for minuscule samples of atoms.

text: In principle a half-life, a third-life, or even a (1/√2)-life, can be used in exactly the same way as half-life; but the mean life and half-life t1/2 have been adopted as standard times associated with exponential decay.

text: Time-variable quantities:

text:
Total activity— A, is the number of decays per unit time of a radioactive sample.
Number of particles—N, is the total number of particles in the sample.
Specific activity—SA, number of decays per unit time per amount of substance of the sample at time set to zero (t = 0). "Amount of substance" can be the mass, volume or moles of the initial sample.

text: These are related as follows:

text: where N0 is the initial amount of active substance — substance that has the same percentage of unstable particles as when the substance was formed.

text: Mathematics of radioactive decay[edit]

text: This article reads like a textbook and may require cleanup. Please help to improve this article to make it neutral in tone and meet Wikipedia's quality standards.

text: Universal law of radioactive decay[edit]

text: Radioactivity is one very frequently given example of exponential decay. The law describes the statistical behaviour of a large number of nuclides, rather than individual atoms. In the following formalism, the number of nuclides or the nuclide population N, is of course a discrete variable (a natural number)—but for any physical sample N is so large that it can be treated as a continuous variable. Differential calculus is used to model the behaviour of nuclear decay.

text: The mathematics of radioactive decay depend on a key assumption that a nucleus of a radionuclide has no "memory" or way of translating its history into its present behavior. A nucleus does not "age" with the passage of time. Thus, the probability of its breaking down does not increase with time, but stays constant no matter how long the nucleus has existed. This constant probability may vary greatly between different types of nuclei, leading to the many different observed decay rates. However, whatever the probability is, it does not change. This is in marked contrast to complex objects which do show aging, such as automobiles and humans. These systems do have a chance of breakdown per unit of time, that increases from the moment they begin their existence.

text: One-decay process[edit]

text:
Consider the case of a nuclide A that decays into another B by some process A → B (emission of other particles, like electron neutrinos ν
e and electrons e− as in beta decay, are irrelevant in what follows). The decay of an unstable nucleus is entirely random and it is impossible to predict when a particular atom will decay. However, it is equally likely to decay at any instant in time. Therefore, given a sample of a particular radioisotope, the number of decay events −dN expected to occur in a small interval of time dt is proportional to the number of atoms present N, that is[20]

text: Particular radionuclides decay at different rates, so each has its own decay constant λ. The expected decay −dN/N is proportional to an increment of time, dt:

text:
−

d

N

N

=
λ

d

t

{\displaystyle -{\frac {\mathrm {d} N}{N}}=\lambda \mathrm {d} t}

text: The negative sign indicates that N decreases as time increases, as the decay events follow one after another. The solution to this first-order differential equation is the function:

text: where N0 is the value of N at time t = 0.[20]

text: We have for all time t:

text: where Ntotal is the constant number of particles throughout the decay process, which is equal to the initial number of A nuclides since this is the initial substance.

text: If the number of non-decayed A nuclei is:

text: then the number of nuclei of B, i.e. the number of decayed A nuclei, is

text: The number of decays observed over a given interval obeys Poisson statistics. If the average number of decays is <N>, the probability of a given number of decays N is[20]

text: Chain-decay processes[edit]

text: Chain of two decays

text: Now consider the case of a chain of two decays: one nuclide A decaying into another B by one process, then B decaying into another C by a second process, i.e. A → B → C. The previous equation cannot be applied to the decay chain, but can be generalized as follows. Since A decays into B, then B decays into C, the activity of A adds to the total number of B nuclides in the present sample, before those B nuclides decay and reduce the number of nuclides leading to the later sample. In other words, the number of second generation nuclei B increases as a result of the first generation nuclei decay of A, and decreases as a result of its own decay into the third generation nuclei C.[21] The sum of these two terms gives the law for a decay chain for two nuclides:

text: The rate of change of NB, that is dNB/dt, is related to the changes in the amounts of A and B, NB can increase as B is produced from A and decrease as B produces C.

text: Re-writing using the previous results:

text:
d

N

B

d

t

=
−

λ

B

N

B

+

λ

A

N

A
0

e

−

λ

A

t

{\displaystyle {\frac {\mathrm {d} N_{B}}{\mathrm {d} t}}=-\lambda _{B}N_{B}+\lambda _{A}N_{A0}e^{-\lambda _{A}t}}

text: The subscripts simply refer to the respective nuclides, i.e. NA is the number of nuclides of type A, NA0 is the initial number of nuclides of type A, λA is the decay constant for A - and similarly for nuclide B. Solving this equation for NB gives:

text: In the case where B is a stable nuclide (λB = 0), this equation reduces to the previous solution:

text: as shown above for one decay. The solution can be found by the integration factor method, where the integrating factor is eλBt. This case is perhaps the most useful, since it can derive both the one-decay equation (above) and the equation for multi-decay chains (below) more directly.

text: Chain of any number of decays

text: For the general case of any number of consecutive decays in a decay chain, i.e. A1 → A2 ··· → Ai ··· → AD, where D is the number of decays and i is a dummy index (i = 1, 2, 3, ...D), each nuclide population can be found in terms of the previous population. In this case N2 = 0, N3 = 0,..., ND = 0. Using the above result in a recursive form:

text: The general solution to the recursive problem is given by Bateman's equations:[22]

text:
Bateman's equations

N

D

=

N

1

(
0
)

λ

D

∑

i
=
1

D

λ

i

c

i

e

−

λ

i

t

{\displaystyle N_{D}={\frac {N_{1}(0)}{\lambda _{D}}}\sum _{i=1}^{D}\lambda _{i}c_{i}e^{-\lambda _{i}t}}

c

i

=

∏

j
=
1
,
i
≠
j

D

λ

j

λ

j

−

λ

i

{\displaystyle c_{i}=\prod _{j=1,i\neq j}^{D}{\frac {\lambda _{j}}{\lambda _{j}-\lambda _{i}}}}

text: Alternative decay modes[edit]

text: In all of the above examples, the initial nuclide decays into just one product.[23] Consider the case of one initial nuclide that can decay into either of two products, that is A → B and A → C in parallel. For example, in a sample of potassium-40, 89.3% of the nuclei decay to calcium-40 and 10.7% to argon-40. We have for all time t:

text: which is constant, since the total number of nuclides remains constant. Differentiating with respect to time:

text: defining the total decay constant λ in terms of the sum of partial decay constants λB and λC:

text: Notice that

text: Solving this equation for NA:

text: where NA0 is the initial number of nuclide A. When measuring the production of one nuclide, one can only observe the total decay constant λ. The decay constants λB and λC determine the probability for the decay to result in products B or C as follows:

text: because the fraction λB/λ of nuclei decay into B while the fraction λC/λ of nuclei decay into C.

text: Corollaries of the decay laws[edit]

text: The above equations can also be written using quantities related to the number of nuclide particles N in a sample;

text:
The activity: A = λN.
The amount of substance: n = N/L.
The mass: M = Arn = ArN/L.

text: where L = 7023602200000000000♠6.022×1023 is Avogadro's constant, Ar is the relative atomic mass number, and the amount of the substance is in moles.

text: Decay timing: definitions and relations[edit]

text: Time constant and mean-life[edit]

text: For the one-decay solution A → B:

text: the equation indicates that the decay constant λ has units of t−1, and can thus also be represented as 1/τ, where τ is a characteristic time of the process called the time constant.

text: In a radioactive decay process, this time constant is also the mean lifetime for decaying atoms. Each atom "lives" for a finite amount of time before it decays, and it may be shown that this mean lifetime is the arithmetic mean of all the atoms' lifetimes, and that it is τ, which again is related to the decay constant as follows:

text: This form is also true for two-decay processes simultaneously A → B + C, inserting the equivalent values of decay constants (as given above)

text: into the decay solution leads to:

text: Half-life[edit]

text: A more commonly used parameter is the half-life. Given a sample of a particular radionuclide, the half-life is the time taken for half the radionuclide's atoms to decay. For the case of one-decay nuclear reactions:

text: the half-life is related to the decay constant as follows: set N = N0/2 and t = T1/2 to obtain

text: This relationship between the half-life and the decay constant shows that highly radioactive substances are quickly spent, while those that radiate weakly endure longer. Half-lives of known radionuclides vary widely, from more than 1019 years, such as for the very nearly stable nuclide 209Bi, to 10−23 seconds for highly unstable ones.

text: The factor of ln(2) in the above relations results from the fact that the concept of "half-life" is merely a way of selecting a different base other than the natural base e for the lifetime expression. The time constant τ is the e -1 -life, the time until only 1/e remains, about 36.8%, rather than the 50% in the half-life of a radionuclide. Thus, τ is longer than t1/2. The following equation can be shown to be valid:

text: Since radioactive decay is exponential with a constant probability, each process could as easily be described with a different constant time period that (for example) gave its "(1/3)-life" (how long until only 1/3 is left) or "(1/10)-life" (a time period until only 10% is left), and so on. Thus, the choice of τ and t1/2 for marker-times, are only for convenience, and from convention. They reflect a fundamental principle only in so much as they show that the same proportion of a given radioactive substance will decay, during any time-period that one chooses.

text: Mathematically, the nth life for the above situation would be found in the same way as above—by setting N = N0/n, t = T1/n and substituting into the decay solution to obtain

text: Example[edit]

text: A sample of 14C has a half-life of 5,730 years and a decay rate of 14 disintegration per minute (dpm) per gram of natural carbon.

text: If an artifact is found to have radioactivity of 4 dpm per gram of its present C, we can find the approximate age of the object using the above equation:

text:
where:

N

N

0

=
4

/

14
≈
0.286
,

{\displaystyle {\frac {N}{N_{0}}}=4/14\approx 0.286,}

text: Changing decay rates[edit]

text: The radioactive decay modes of electron capture and internal conversion are known to be slightly sensitive to chemical and environmental effects that change the electronic structure of the atom, which in turn affects the presence of 1s and 2s electrons that participate in the decay process. A small number of mostly light nuclides are affected. For example, chemical bonds can affect the rate of electron capture to a small degree (in general, less than 1%) depending on the proximity of electrons to the nucleus. In 7Be, a difference of 0.9% has been observed between half-lives in metallic and insulating environments.[24] This relatively large effect is because beryllium is a small atom whose valence electrons are in 2s atomic orbitals, which are subject to electron capture in 7Be because (like all s atomic orbitals in all atoms) they naturally penetrate into the nucleus.

text: In 1992, Jung et al. of the Darmstadt Heavy-Ion Research group observed an accelerated β− decay of 163Dy66+. Although neutral 163Dy is a stable isotope, the fully ionized 163Dy66+ undergoes β− decay into the K and L shells to 163Ho66+ with a half-life of 47 days.[25]

text: Rhenium-187 is another spectacular example. 187Re normally beta decays to 187Os with a half-life of 41.6 × 109 years,[26] but studies using fully ionised 187Re atoms (bare nuclei) have found that this can decrease to only 33 years. This is attributed to "bound-state β− decay" of the fully ionised atom – the electron is emitted into the "K-shell" (1s atomic orbital), which cannot occur for neutral atoms in which all low-lying bound states are occupied.[27]

text: A number of experiments have found that decay rates of other modes of artificial and naturally occurring radioisotopes are, to a high degree of precision, unaffected by external conditions such as temperature, pressure, the chemical environment, and electric, magnetic, or gravitational fields.[28] Comparison of laboratory experiments over the last century, studies of the Oklo natural nuclear reactor (which exemplified the effects of thermal neutrons on nuclear decay), and astrophysical observations of the luminosity decays of distant supernovae (which occurred far away so the light has taken a great deal of time to reach us), for example, strongly indicate that unperturbed decay rates have been constant (at least to within the limitations of small experimental errors) as a function of time as well.[citation needed]

text: Recent results suggest the possibility that decay rates might have a weak dependence on environmental factors. It has been suggested that measurements of decay rates of silicon-32, manganese-54, and radium-226 exhibit small seasonal variations (of the order of 0.1%),[29][30][31] while the decay of radon-222 is reported to exhibit large 4% peak-to-peak seasonal variations,[32] proposed to be related to either solar flare activity or the distance from the Sun. However, such measurements are highly susceptible to systematic errors, and a subsequent paper[33] has found no evidence for such correlations in seven other isotopes (22Na, 44Ti, 108Ag, 121Sn, 133Ba, 241Am, 238Pu), and sets upper limits on the size of any such effects.

text: GSI anomaly[edit]

text: An unexpected series of experimental results for the rate of decay of heavy highly charged radioactive ions circulating in a storage ring has provoked theoretical activity in an effort to find a convincing explanation. The rates of weak decay of two radioactive species with half lives of about 40 s and 200 s are found to have a significant oscillatory modulation, with a period of about 7 s.[34] The observed phenomenon is known as the GSI anomaly, as the storage ring is a facility at the GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research in Darmstadt, Germany. As the decay process produces an electron neutrino, some of the proposed explanations for the observed rate oscillation invoke neutrino properties. Initial ideas related to flavour oscillation met with skepticism.[35] A more recent proposal involves mass differences between neutrino mass eigenstates.[36]

text: Theoretical basis of decay phenomena[edit]

text: This section possibly contains original research. Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding inline citations. Statements consisting only of original research should be removed. (October 2014) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

text: The neutrons and protons that constitute nuclei, as well as other particles that approach close enough to them, are governed by several interactions. The strong nuclear force, not observed at the familiar macroscopic scale, is the most powerful force over subatomic distances. The electrostatic force is almost always significant, and, in the case of beta decay, the weak nuclear force is also involved.

text: The interplay of these forces produces a number of different phenomena in which energy may be released by rearrangement of particles in the nucleus, or else the change of one type of particle into others. These rearrangements and transformations may be hindered energetically, so that they do not occur immediately. In certain cases, random quantum vacuum fluctuations are theorized to promote relaxation to a lower energy state (the "decay") in a phenomenon known as quantum tunneling. Radioactive decay half-life of nuclides has been measured over timescales of 55 orders of magnitude, from 2.3 × 10−23 seconds (for hydrogen-7) to 6.9 × 1031 seconds (for tellurium-128).[37] The limits of these timescales are set by the sensitivity of instrumentation only, and there are no known natural limits to how brief or long a decay half-life for radioactive decay of a radionuclide may be.

text: The decay process, like all hindered energy transformations, may be analogized by a snowfield on a mountain. While friction between the ice crystals may be supporting the snow's weight, the system is inherently unstable with regard to a state of lower potential energy. A disturbance would thus facilitate the path to a state of greater entropy; the system will move towards the ground state, producing heat, and the total energy will be distributable over a larger number of quantum states thus resulting in an avalanche. The total energy does not change in this process, but, because of the second law of thermodynamics, avalanches have only been observed in one direction and that is toward the "ground state" — the state with the largest number of ways in which the available energy could be distributed.

text: Such a collapse (a gamma-ray decay event) requires a specific activation energy. For a snow avalanche, this energy comes as a disturbance from outside the system, although such disturbances can be arbitrarily small. In the case of an excited atomic nucleus decaying by gamma radiation in a spontaneous emission of electromagnetic radiation, the arbitrarily small disturbance comes from quantum vacuum fluctuations.[38]

text: A radioactive nucleus (or any excited system in quantum mechanics) is unstable, and can, thus, spontaneously stabilize to a less-excited system. The resulting transformation alters the structure of the nucleus and results in the emission of either a photon or a high-velocity particle that has mass (such as an electron, alpha particle, or other type).[citation needed]

text: Occurrence and applications[edit]

text: According to the Big Bang theory, stable isotopes of the lightest five elements (H, He, and traces of Li, Be, and B) were produced very shortly after the emergence of the universe, in a process called Big Bang nucleosynthesis. These lightest stable nuclides (including deuterium) survive to today, but any radioactive isotopes of the light elements produced in the Big Bang (such as tritium) have long since decayed. Isotopes of elements heavier than boron were not produced at all in the Big Bang, and these first five elements do not have any long-lived radioisotopes. Thus, all radioactive nuclei are, therefore, relatively young with respect to the birth of the universe, having formed later in various other types of nucleosynthesis in stars (in particular, supernovae), and also during ongoing interactions between stable isotopes and energetic particles. For example, carbon-14, a radioactive nuclide with a half-life of only 5,730 years, is constantly produced in Earth's upper atmosphere due to interactions between cosmic rays and nitrogen.

text: Nuclides that are produced by radioactive decay are called radiogenic nuclides, whether they themselves are stable or not. There exist stable radiogenic nuclides that were formed from short-lived extinct radionuclides in the early solar system.[39][40] The extra presence of these stable radiogenic nuclides (such as Xe-129 from primordial I-129) against the background of primordial stable nuclides can be inferred by various means.

text: Radioactive decay has been put to use in the technique of radioisotopic labeling, which is used to track the passage of a chemical substance through a complex system (such as a living organism). A sample of the substance is synthesized with a high concentration of unstable atoms. The presence of the substance in one or another part of the system is determined by detecting the locations of decay events.

text: On the premise that radioactive decay is truly random (rather than merely chaotic), it has been used in hardware random-number generators. Because the process is not thought to vary significantly in mechanism over time, it is also a valuable tool in estimating the absolute ages of certain materials. For geological materials, the radioisotopes and some of their decay products become trapped when a rock solidifies, and can then later be used (subject to many well-known qualifications) to estimate the date of the solidification. These include checking the results of several simultaneous processes and their products against each other, within the same sample. In a similar fashion, and also subject to qualification, the rate of formation of carbon-14 in various eras, the date of formation of organic matter within a certain period related to the isotope's half-life may be estimated, because the carbon-14 becomes trapped when the organic matter grows and incorporates the new carbon-14 from the air. Thereafter, the amount of carbon-14 in organic matter decreases according to decay processes that may also be independently cross-checked by other means (such as checking the carbon-14 in individual tree rings, for example).

text: Szilard–Chalmers effect[edit]

text: The Szilard–Chalmers effect is defined as the breaking of a chemical bond between an atom and the molecule that the atom is part of, as a result of a nuclear reaction of the atom. The effect can be used to separate isotopes by chemical means. The discovery of this effect is due to L. Szilárd and T.A. Chalmers.[41]

text: Origins of radioactive nuclides[edit]

text: Radioactive primordial nuclides found in the Earth are residues from ancient supernova explosions that occurred before the formation of the solar system. They are the fraction of radionuclides that survived from that time, through the formation of the primordial solar nebula, through planet accretion, and up to the present time. The naturally occurring short-lived radiogenic radionuclides found in today's rocks, are the daughters of those radioactive primordial nuclides. Another minor source of naturally occurring radioactive nuclides are cosmogenic nuclides, that are formed by cosmic ray bombardment of material in the Earth's atmosphere or crust. The decay of the radionuclides in rocks of the Earth's mantle and crust contribute significantly to Earth's internal heat budget.

text: Decay chains and multiple modes[edit]

text: The daughter nuclide of a decay event may also be unstable (radioactive). In this case, it too will decay, producing radiation. The resulting second daughter nuclide may also be radioactive. This can lead to a sequence of several decay events called a decay chain (see this article for specific details of important natural decay chains).Eventually, a stable nuclide is produced.

text: An example is the natural decay chain of 238U:

text:
Uranium-238 decays, through alpha-emission, with a half-life of 4.5 billion years to thorium-234
which decays, through beta-emission, with a half-life of 24 days to protactinium-234
which decays, through beta-emission, with a half-life of 1.2 minutes to uranium-234
which decays, through alpha-emission, with a half-life of 240 thousand years to thorium-230
which decays, through alpha-emission, with a half-life of 77 thousand years to radium-226
which decays, through alpha-emission, with a half-life of 1.6 thousand years to radon-222
which decays, through alpha-emission, with a half-life of 3.8 days to polonium-218
which decays, through alpha-emission, with a half-life of 3.1 minutes to lead-214
which decays, through beta-emission, with a half-life of 27 minutes to bismuth-214
which decays, through beta-emission, with a half-life of 20 minutes to polonium-214
which decays, through alpha-emission, with a half-life of 160 microseconds to lead-210
which decays, through beta-emission, with a half-life of 22 years to bismuth-210
which decays, through beta-emission, with a half-life of 5 days to polonium-210
which decays, through alpha-emission, with a half-life of 140 days to lead-206, which is a stable nuclide.

text: Some radionuclides may have several different paths of decay. For example, approximately 36% of bismuth-212 decays, through alpha-emission, to thallium-208 while approximately 64% of bismuth-212 decays, through beta-emission, to polonium-212. Both thallium-208 and polonium-212 are radioactive daughter products of bismuth-212, and both decay directly to stable lead-208.

text: Associated hazard warning signs[edit]

text:
The trefoil symbol used to indicate ionising radiation.

2007 ISO radioactivity danger symbol intended for IAEA Category 1, 2 and 3 sources defined as dangerous sources capable of death or serious injury.[42]

The dangerous goods transport classification sign for radioactive materials


document_title: List of undefeated boxing world champions

question_text: who has the most undefeated wins in boxing

text: This is a list of world champions in professional boxing who retired undefeated, either during or after a title reign(s). It excludes current titleholders. Each champion's record is shown in the following format: wins–losses–draws–no contests.

text:
Boxer
Record
Weight class
Title(s)
Championship years
Title defenses
Notes

 Jimmy Barry[1]
59–0–9 (2)
Bantamweight
World
1894–1899
6 (3 draws)

 Joe Calzaghe[2]
46–0–0 (0)
Super middleweight
WBO
1997–2008
21
Vacated title to move up to light heavyweight.

IBF
2006
1
Vacated title to fight Peter Manfredo Jr. instead of #1 contender Robert Stieglitz.

The Ring, lineal
2006–2008
3
Vacated titles to move up to light heavyweight.

WBA, WBC
2007–2008
0

Light heavyweight
The Ring
2008
1
Retired and vacated title.

 Kim Ji-won[3]
16–0–2 (0)
Super bantamweight
IBF
1985–1986
4

 Mihai Leu[4]
28–0–0 (0)
Welterweight
WBO
1997
1
Forced to retire from boxing due to an injury.

 Ricardo López[3]
51–0–1 (0)
Minimumweight
WBC
1990–1998
22
Vacated title to move up to light flyweight.

WBO
1997–1998
0
Unified WBC and WBO titles. Stripped of WBO title for saying he wanted to give the belt to his father.[5]

WBA
1998
0
Vacated title to move up to junior flyweight.

Light flyweight
IBF
1999–2002
2

 Rocky Marciano[3][6]
49–0–0 (0)
Heavyweight
World
1952–1956
6

 Terry Marsh[3][4]
26–0–1 (0)
Light welterweight
IBF
1987
1
Forced to retire due to epilepsy.

 Floyd Mayweather Jr.[7]
50–0–0 (0)
Super featherweight
WBC
1998–2002
8
Vacated title to move up to lightweight.

Lightweight
WBC
2002–2004
3
Vacated title to move up to light welterweight.

Light welterweight
WBC
2005–2006
0
Vacated title to move up to welterweight.

Welterweight
WBA, WBC
2006–2008, 2011–2015
8
Retired at 49–0 in 2015; returned in 2017 for non-title McGregor fight and then retired again.

Light middleweight
WBA, WBC
2007, 2012–2015, 2017
2

 Jack McAuliffe[8]
30–0–5 (1)
Lightweight
World
1886–1893
7–0–2 (0)

 Sven Ottke[3]
34–0–0 (0)
Super middleweight
IBF
1998–2004
21

WBA
2003–2004
4
Defended IBF title and defeated WBA champion to become WBA Super champion.

 Dmitry Pirog
20–0–0 (0)
Middleweight
WBO
2010–2012
3
Forced to retire from boxing due to chronic back injuries.

 Harry Simon[9]
30–0–0 (0)
Light middleweight
WBO
1998–2001
4
Vacated title to move up to middleweight.

Middleweight
WBO
2002
0
Won WBO interim middleweight title in 2001 and the outright title in 2002. Stripped of title at 29–0 when he was unable to defend it due to injuries suffered in a car crash. Had one more non-title fight before retiring.

 Pichit Sitbangprachan[9]
24–0–0 (0)
Flyweight
IBF
1992–1994
5
Retired at 21–0 and then made a comeback.

 Edwin Valero[10]
27–0–0 (0)
Super featherweight
WBA
2006–2008
4
Vacated title to move up to lightweight.

Lightweight
WBC
2009–2010
2
Vacated title to move up to light welterweight. Committed suicide after allegedly killing his wife in 2010. All 27 fights were knockout wins.

 Andre Ward[11]
32–0–0 (0)
Super middleweight
WBA
2009–2015
6
Vacated titles in 2015 to move up to light heavyweight.

WBC, The Ring, lineal
2011–2015
1 (WBC), 2 (The Ring, lineal)

Light heavyweight
WBA, WBO, The Ring, lineal
2016–2017
1 (WBA, IBF, WBO), 0 (The Ring, lineal)