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v. t. e. Alpha decay or α-decay is a type of radioactive decay in which an atomic nucleus emits an alpha particle (helium nucleus) and thereby transforms or "decays" into a different atomic nucleus, with a mass number that is reduced by four and an atomic number that is reduced by two. An alpha particle is identical to the nucleus of a helium ...
[1] Radioactive decay is a random process at the level of single atoms. According to quantum theory, it is impossible to predict when a particular atom will decay, regardless of how long the atom has existed. [2] [3] [4] However, for a significant number of identical atoms, the overall decay rate can be expressed as a decay constant or as a ...
Mass number. A = (Relative) atomic mass = Mass number = Sum of protons and neutrons. N = Number of neutrons. Z = Atomic number = Number of protons = Number of electrons. A = Z + N {\displaystyle A=Z+N\,\!} Mass in nuclei. M'nuc = Mass of nucleus, bound nucleons. MΣ = Sum of masses for isolated nucleons.
Half-life (symbol t½) is the time required for a quantity (of substance) to reduce to half of its initial value. The term is commonly used in nuclear physics to describe how quickly unstable atoms undergo radioactive decay or how long stable atoms survive. The term is also used more generally to characterize any type of exponential (or, rarely ...
History of atomic theory. The current theoretical model of the atom involves a dense nucleus surrounded by a probabilistic "cloud" of electrons. Atomic theory is the scientific theory that matter is composed of particles called atoms. The definition of the word "atom" has changed over the years in response to scientific discoveries.
From an experiment in 1906, Rutherford measured alpha particles to have a charge of 2 q e and an atomic weight of 4, and alpha particles emitted by radon to have velocity of 1.70 × 10 7 m/s. [66] However before Rutherford's 1911 paper the alpha particle was still thought to be the size of an atom and contain up to 10 electrons.
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The two types of beta decay are known as beta minus and beta plus.In beta minus (β −) decay, a neutron is converted to a proton, and the process creates an electron and an electron antineutrino; while in beta plus (β +) decay, a proton is converted to a neutron and the process creates a positron and an electron neutrino. β + decay is also known as positron emission.