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Also known as helium-4 nucleus, alpha particles are emitted spontaneously when certain substances undergo radioactive decay. Alpha particles are represented as
[image]He and when a substance emits an alpha particle, its atomic mass number decreases by four and its atomic number decreases by 2. |
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| Emitted during beta radiation, beta particles are high-speed electrons. They are represented by β. When an element emits a beta particle, its mass number stays the same,and its atomic number increases by 1. |
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This type of radiation is made up of high energy photons, When an element emits gamma radiation, neither the atomic number nor the mass number changes. Gamma radiation is symbolized γ,and almost alway accompanies another form of radioactive emission
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| Electron capture refers to the capture by the nucleus of an atom of an electron that was in the electron cloud surrounding the nucleus. Electron capture results in no change in the mass number of an element and a decrease in the atomic number by one. |
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| The time required for half of a given quantity of a substance to undergo radioactive decay. |
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| A device used to detect and measure radioactivity. |
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| Define: Nuclear Binding Energy |
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| The amount of energy it takes to separate a nucleus into its individual necleons. The bigger the binding energy of a nucleus, the more stable the nucleus. |
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