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The original was posted on /r/askscience by /u/kepler1 on 2023-08-06 20:49:57+00:00.

Wondering, if atoms are just randomly by chance radioactively decaying once in a while, what happens to the molecule it’s in?

For example take some potassium chloride salt. I understand potassium decays to argon, and argon is inert and going to fly off on its own. What happens to the chloride ion left over?

How about a carbon decay in a larger molecule? Does the molecule break apart?

Or an atom decays in a crystal/rock, does the crystal get “holey” over time?