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Alpha decay or α-decay is a type of radioactive decay in which an atomic nucleus emits an alpha particle (helium nucleus). The parent nucleus transforms or "decays" into a daughter product , with a mass number that is reduced by four and an atomic number that is reduced by two.
The decay scheme of a radioactive substance is a graphical presentation of all the transitions occurring in a decay, and of their relationships. Examples are shown below. It is useful to think of the decay scheme as placed in a coordinate system, where the vertical axis is energy, increasing from bottom to top, and the horizontal axis is the proton number, increasing from left to right.
In contrast to beta decay, the fundamental interactions responsible for alpha decay are a balance between the electromagnetic force and nuclear force. Alpha decay results from the Coulomb repulsion [4] between the alpha particle and the rest of the nucleus, which both have a positive electric charge, but which is kept in check by the nuclear force.
The four most common modes of radioactive decay are: alpha decay, beta decay, inverse beta decay (considered as both positron emission and electron capture), and isomeric transition. Of these decay processes, only alpha decay (fission of a helium-4 nucleus) changes the atomic mass number ( A ) of the nucleus, and always decreases it by four.
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Thus, alpha decay can be considered either a form of particle decay or, less frequently, as a special case of nuclear fission. The timescale for the nuclear strong force is much faster than that of the nuclear weak force or the electromagnetic force , so the lifetime of nuclei past the drip lines are typically on the order of nanoseconds or less.
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 ...
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