artificial disintegration

{{Short description|Term for breaking down an atomic nucleus}}

Artificial disintegration is the term coined by Ernest Rutherford for the process by which an atomic nucleus is broken down by bombarding it with high speed alpha particles, either from a particle accelerator, or a naturally decaying radioactive substance such as radium, as Rutherford originally used.{{cite book|title= Understanding physics |first1=David C. |last1=Cassidy|first2=Gerald James |last2=Holton|first3= Floyd James |last3=Rutherford |publisher =Birkhäuser|year= 2002 |ISBN =0-387-98756-8 |pages=766}}