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It can't, as far as I know. "Gamma decay" doesn't refer to the decay of gamma rays; rather, it refers to a decay of ATOMS, or some other particles, which produces gamma rays in the process.
Wiki User
∙ 8y ago
Wiki User
∙ 8y agoRadioactive substances undergo gamma decay by sending out radiation, not of any particles. There is, therefore, no mass involved.
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Which type of radioavtive decay does the mass number remain unchanged?
Beta and Gamma
What nuclear decay have no mass and no charge?
Gamma
What type of radioactive decay involves only the release of high energy photons and therefore does not change the mass of the radionuclide?
There is no normal process by which a nucleus can release energy without changing the element. Even gamma radiation, which is photon emission from the nucleus during a restabilization sequence, has a predecessor, i.e. usually beta or alpha, which does change the element.
How is the atomic mass number of a nucleus changed by alpha decay or by beta decay or by gamma decay?
The mass does not change much. The Atomic number will increase though.
Why does gamma decay result in no mass loss for the atom?
A gamma decay is simply emission of a photon. Technically, there must be a tiny mass loss of E/c2 . Decay is not reallya goodword because there is no loss of electrons, neutrons or protons so the nucleus is unchanged in its make-up. There is of course energy decay.
Does the nucleus mass or atomic number change during gamma ray decay?
The emission of a gamma ray changes neither the mass number nor the atomic number of a nucleus. An example of an equation for gamma emission is: 99mTc --> 99Tc + gamma The "m" associated with the mass number indicates a metastable nuclear isomer.
When a nucleus undergoes radioactive decay its new mass number is?
It depends. If the decay contains a particle with mass, then the nucleus' mass number must decrease. If the decay involves the emission of a massless particle (like a gamma photon), then the mass number is unchanged. If the reaction (not technically a decay) involves the nucleus absorbing a particle with mass (like U-235 absorbing a neutron in a fission chain reaction) then it is a transmutation and not a natural decay. The mass number must increase.
What happens to an atom that experiences radioactive decay?
It loses mass.
What are the changes to the atom during gamma radiation?
Gamma emission is not a decay process. It is a restabilization process of the nucleus in response to some other decay process, such as alpha or beta, which leaves the nucleus in an excited state. When the nucleus comes down from that excited state it emits a photon of energy equal to the step change in energy that was made. Short answer: The atomic mass or atomic number of a nucleus is not changed, specifically, by the gamma emission, but it is changed by the precipitating alpha or beta (or other) event that left the nucleus in an excited state. Slightly more correct answer: The mass of the nucleus is decreased by the equivalent mass of the loss of energy that occurs. This ratio is e=mc2, where c2 is 9 x 1018, so you can see that the delta mass due to gamma emission is very, very small.
What decay has no particle associated with it?
All nuclear decay has some kind of particle or particles associated with it. Even the metastable decay of 4399Tcm, a gamma at 142.7 Kev, is considered to be a particle emission, because a gamma is a photon, and a photon is an elementary particle, per our understanding of modern quantum mechanics and particle physics, even though it has no mass at rest state.
How does alpha beta and gamma decay change the nucleus?
Gamma decay is the release of energy, but does not in itself change the nucleas Alpha decay is the loss of 2 protrons and 2 neutrons, lowering the atomic number by 2 and mass number by 4 Beta can occur as a result of a neutron turning into a protron, raising the atomic number by 1 and charge by 1
How is the nucleus affected in gamma decay?
When the nucleus emits an alpha or beta particle, it is in the exited state. To return to the ground state, it has to emit energy. It emits this energy in the form of gamma rays. There is no change in the atomic no or the mass no when it emits gamma rays, but it does decrease the energy in the nucleus when gamma rays are emitted
