What happens to atoms after they decay?

It appears you read a poor description of decay processes and their half-lives. These decay processes are truly random. For each process, there is a very specific probability that the atom (really, its nucleus) will decay in one second. read more

Radioactive atoms decay by emitting alpha, beta, or gamma radiation. When they decay they will become another atom with different characteristics. If it decays by alpha decay, it will become an atom with 2 fewer protons and 2 fewer neutrons than the original atom; that is it. read more

The short answer to your question is that most of the time the atoms produced by radioactive decay remain close to where they were produced, but this is not always the case. Following is some information that might be helpful. read more

Most atoms are stable, and do not decay on their own. They are stable because the sum negative charge of their electrons balance the sum positive charge in the protons in their nucleus, and the protons in the nucleus are buffered by enough neutrons to space them out and neutralize their tendency to fly apart. read more