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A beta particle, also called beta ray or beta radiation (symbol β), is a high-energy, high-speed electron or positron emitted by the radioactive decay of an atomic nucleus, known as beta decay. There are two forms of beta decay, β − decay and β + decay, which produce electrons and positrons, respectively. [2]
The Q value is defined as the total energy released in a given nuclear decay. In beta decay, Q is therefore also the sum of the kinetic energies of the emitted beta particle, neutrino, and recoiling nucleus. (Because of the large mass of the nucleus compared to that of the beta particle and neutrino, the kinetic energy of the recoiling nucleus ...
Tritium is a low-energy beta emitter commonly used as a radiotracer in research and in traser [check spelling] self-powered lightings. The half-life of tritium is 12.3 years. The electrons from beta emission from tritium are so low in energy (average decay energy 5.7 keV) that a Geiger counter cannot be used to detect them. An advantage of the ...
The alpha particle is an especially strongly bound nucleus, helping it win the competition more often. [57]: 872 However some nuclei break up or fission into larger particles and artificial nuclei decay with the emission of single protons, double protons, and other combinations. [55] Beta decay transforms a neutron into proton or vice versa.
Positron emission, beta plus decay, or β + decay is a subtype of radioactive decay called beta decay, in which a proton inside a radionuclide nucleus is converted into a neutron while releasing a positron and an electron neutrino (ν e). [1] Positron emission is mediated by the weak force.
The Feynman diagram for beta decay of a neutron into a proton, electron, and electron antineutrino via an intermediate W − boson. The W and Z bosons are carrier particles that mediate the weak nuclear force, much as the photon is the carrier particle for the electromagnetic force.
The symbol for the alpha particle is α or α 2+. Because they are identical to helium nuclei, they are also sometimes written as He 2+ or 4 2 He 2+ indicating a helium ion with a +2 charge (missing its two electrons). Once the ion gains electrons from its environment, the alpha particle becomes a normal (electrically neutral) helium atom 4 2 He.
The neutrino [a] was postulated first by Wolfgang Pauli in 1930 to explain how beta decay could conserve energy, momentum, and angular momentum ().In contrast to Niels Bohr, who proposed a statistical version of the conservation laws to explain the observed continuous energy spectra in beta decay, Pauli hypothesized an undetected particle that he called a "neutron", using the same -on ending ...