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Alpha decay is by far the most common form of cluster decay, where the parent atom ejects a defined daughter collection of nucleons, leaving another defined product behind. It is the most common form because of the combined extremely high nuclear binding energy and relatively small mass of the alpha particle.
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.
Radioactive decay (also known as nuclear decay, radioactivity, radioactive disintegration, or nuclear disintegration) is the process by which an unstable atomic nucleus loses energy by radiation. A material containing unstable nuclei is considered radioactive. Three of the most common types of decay are alpha, beta, and gamma decay.
Alpha particles, also called alpha rays or alpha radiation, consist of two protons and two neutrons bound together into a particle identical to a helium-4 nucleus. [5] They are generally produced in the process of alpha decay but may also be produced in other ways. Alpha particles are named after the first letter in the Greek alphabet, α.
Most of these isotopes decay predominantly through alpha decay; this is the most common for all isotopes for which comprehensive decay characteristics are available, the only exception being hassium-277, which undergoes spontaneous fission. [103]
Alpha decay characteristics for sample astatine isotopes [g] Mass number Half-life [6] Probability of alpha decay [6] Alpha-decay half-life 207 1.80 h: 8.6 % 20.9 h: 208
Alpha decay, the release of a high-energy helium nucleus, is the most common form of radioactive decay for plutonium. [11] A 5 kg mass of 239 Pu contains about 12.5 × 10 24 atoms. With a half-life of 24,100 years, about 11.5 × 10 12 of its atoms decay each second by emitting a 5.157 MeV alpha particle. This amounts to 9.68 watts of power.
Alpha decays are registered by the emitted alpha particles, and the decay products are easy to determine before the actual decay; if such a decay or a series of consecutive decays produces a known nucleus, the original product of a reaction can be easily determined.