173k views
2 votes
How do radioactive decay can produce new elements ?

1 Answer

5 votes

solution:

92U238 --> 2He4 + 90Th234 ........ Th-234 is the daughter element

.↑ ................ ↑ ........ ↑

92 protons .. α ........ 90 protons

Beta decay involves the weak force and allows a neutron to change into a proton. This means that the daughter element will have an atomic number which is one greater than the parent. In addition, since a neutron is swapped for a proton, the number of nucleons does not change, so the mass number does not change.

6C14 ----> -1e0 ..+.. 7N14 ............ N-14 is the daughter element

↑ ................. ↑ ........ ↑

6 protons .... β ........7 protons


User Khuzi
by
4.9k points