Modes of Radioactive Decay
Channel: Dominik Hezel
Date: 02/09/2019

Radioactive elements decay along 3 main paths: (i) Release of a positron. Thereby, a neutron converts into a proton, i.e., the nucleus gains a proton and changes to an element with an atomic number that is 1 higher. It further looses one neutron. (i) Release of an electron. Thereby, a proton converts into a neutron, i.e., the nucleus looses a proton and changes to an element with an atomic number that is 1 lower. It further gains a neutron. (iii) Emission of a 4He nucleus. No conversions occur, but the nucleus looses 2 protons and becomes an element with a by 2 lower atomic number. Further, 2 neutrons are lost. Additional decay modes exist that are, however, by far more rare, e.g., spontaneous spallation.