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Alpha particles, also called alpha rays or alpha radiation, consist of two protons and two neutrons bound together into a particle identical to a helium-4 nucleus. [5] They are generally produced in the process of alpha decay but may also be produced in other ways. Alpha particles are named after the first letter in the Greek alphabet, α.
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.
Alpha spectrometry (also known as alpha(-particle) spectroscopy) is the quantitative study of the energy of alpha particles emitted by a radioactive nuclide that is an alpha emitter. As emitted alpha particles are mono-energetic (i.e. not emitted with a spectrum of energies, such as beta decay ) with energies often distinct to the decay they ...
[citation needed] This is because there are just two main decay methods: alpha radiation, which reduces the mass by 4 atomic mass units (amu), and beta, which does not change the mass number (just the atomic number and the p/n ratio). The four paths are termed 4n, 4n + 1, 4n + 2, and 4n + 3; the remainder from dividing the atomic mass by four ...
Passing alpha particles through a very thin glass window and trapping them in a discharge tube allowed researchers to study the emission spectrum of the captured particles, and ultimately proved that alpha particles are helium nuclei. Other experiments showed beta radiation, resulting from decay and cathode rays, were high-speed electrons.
The radiation chemistry controls much of radiation biology as radiation has an effect on living things at the molecular scale. To explain it another way, the radiation alters the biochemicals within an organism, the alteration of the bio-molecules then changes the chemistry which occurs within the organism; this change in chemistry then can ...
Thomson did not explain how he arrived at this equation, but this section provides an educated guess and at the same time adapts the equation to alpha particle scattering. [60] Consider an alpha particle passing by a sphere of pure positive charge (no electrons) with a radius R and mass equal to that of a gold atom. The alpha particle passes ...
In a more formal definition, the L shell is initially fully occupied. In this case, the lighter species with K-alpha is neon. [5] This choice also places K-alpha firmly in the X-ray energy range. Similarly to Lyman-alpha, the K-alpha emission is composed of two spectral lines, K-alpha 1 (Kα 1) and K-alpha 2 (Kα 2). [6]