Does silicon undergo radioactive decay

Answer 1

The 3 isotopes that make up all naturally occurring silicon (28, 29, 30) on earth are all stable and thus do not undergo radioactive decay. But other silicon isotopes that are lighter or heavier can be produced by particle accelerators, nuclear reactors, nuclear explosions, or rarely cosmic rays do undergo radioactive decay via either -Beta, +Beta, or Gamma emission depending on isotope.

Silicon does exist in space near very active stars, supernovas, etc. in the form of isotopes that undergo radioactive decay.

The longest lived silicon isotope (32) that will undergo radioactive decay, has a halflife of roughly 700 years and thus will effectively completely decay to stable sulfur-32 in less than 4000 years. All other silicon isotopes that undergo radioactive decay have halflives so short that they finish decaying to stable isotopes of other elements in much less than a single day.