Question

Radium-226 undergoes alpha emission. the resulting nuclide then undergoes beta emission. what is the resulting nuclide after both subsequent emissions?

Answer 1

Alpha emission results in the daughter nuclide with atomic number reduced by 2 units and mass number reduced by 4 units.

`^(226)_(88)Ra ----> ^(222)_(86)Rn + _(2)^(4)He`

Beta emission results in the nuclide in which the atomic number is increased by one unit and the mass number remains unchanged.

`^(222)_(86)Rn ---> ^(222)_(87)Fr +^(0)_(-1) e`

The resulting nuclide after the alpha and beta decay of Radium-226 will be Francium - 222