Question

Neptunium's only naturally occurring isotope, 23793np, decays by emitting one alpha particle, one beta particle, and one gamma ray. What is the new atom formed from this decay?

Answer 1

The given isotope of Neptunium is
`^(237) _(93) Np`

Alpha decay of an isotope results in daughter nuclide with mass number less by 4 units and atomic number less by 2 units than the parent isotope.

Alpha decay of Neptunium-237 can be represented as:

`^(237) _(93) Np-->^(233)_(91) Pa+^(4) _(2) He`

Beta decay of the above formed protactinium nuclide can be represented as:

`^(233)_(91)Pa-->^(233) _(92) U+^(0)_(-1)e`

Gamma decay releases only energy in the form of gamma rays, the nuclide remains the same.

`^(233)_(92)U-->^(233)_(92)U+`γ

The new atom formed after the given decays is
`^(233)_(92)U`