01:160:162 Lecture Notes - Lecture 35: Alpha Decay, Beta Decay, Nuclide

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ivoryant268

25 Jul 2017

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Document Summary

Nuclear chemistry focuses on nucleus of element. How protons and neutrons within a nucleus impact stability of an isotope. How one element can be transformed into another element. Tremendous amounts of energies are associated with nuclear processes. A = mass number sum of number of protons (p") and neutrons (n") Z = atomic number (number of protons) In nuclear chemistry, protons and neutrons are referred to as nucleons. Radioactivity emission of subatomic particles or high-energy radiation by nucleus of an atom. Mechanism by which unstable nuclei spontaneously decompose to gain greater stability. Parent nuclide decays into one or more daughter nuclides. Alpha ( ) decay, beta ((cid:533)) decay, gamma ((cid:534)) ray emission, positron emission, and e- capture. Emitted radioactive particles differ from each other based on: (1) abilities to penetrate into materials (penetrating power) (2) abilities to ionize other molecules (ionizing power) How nucleus is impacted also depends on type of radioactive decay.

Related Questions

Nuclear Decay Equations

Learning Goal:

To predict the products of alpha emission, beta emission, positron emission, and electron capture.

Radioactivity is the spontaneous emission of radiation from an unstable nucleus. There are five major types of radioactive decay:

Alpha (Î±) radiation consists of helium nuclei. The helium nucleus is a small particle containing two protons and two neutrons (42He).

Beta (Î²) radiation consists of electrons. In nuclear equations, the standard format for representing a beta particle using superscripts and subscripts is 0â1e.

Positron emission results from the conversion of a proton in the nucleus to a neutron. The ejected positron is a particle that has the same mass as an electron but an opposite charge. In nuclear equations, the standard format for representing a positron using superscripts and subscripts is 01e .

Electron capture is the capture of an inner shell electron by a proton in the nucleus. The process emits gamma (Î³) radiation and results in a proton converting to a neutron. Gamma radiation consists of high-energy electromagnetic radiation.

Gamma (Î³) radiation consists of high-energy radiation, and contains no particles and thus they have no mass. In nuclear equations, the standard format for representing gamma radiation using superscripts and subscripts is 00Î³.

Balancing a decay equation

There are two main rules to remember when balancing nuclear equations:

The total of the superscripts in the reactants and products must be the same.

The total of the subscripts in the reactants and products must be the same.

For an isotope of an element, the superscripts are mass numbers, and the subcripts are atomic numbers:

Mass number â¶ AAtomic number â¶ Z X âµ Chemical symbol

Where the mass number (A) is the sum of the number of proton and number of neutrons in the nucleus, atomic number (Z) is the number of protons in the nucleus, and chemical symbol (X) is the symbol of the specific element.

Part A

Identify the nuclide produced when americium-241 decays by alpha emission:

241 95Amâ42He + ?

Express your answer as an isotope using prescripts.

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Part B

Identify the nuclide produced when phosphorus-32 decays by beta emission:

3215Pâ 0â1e + ?

Express your answer as an isotope using prescripts.

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Part C

Identify the nuclide produced when fluorine-18 decays by positron emission: