why does radioactive decay occur
Radioactive decay occurs in unstable atomic nuclei â that is, ones that donât have enough binding energy to hold the nucleus together due to an excess of either protons or neutrons.It comes in three main types â named alpha, beta and gamma for the first three letters of the Greek alphabet.Alpha decay. - emission occurs by the transformation of one of the nucleusâs neutrons into a proton, an electron and an antineutrino. Byproducts of fission from nuclear reactors often undergo Î² - decay as they are likely to have an excess of neutrons.