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What type nuclear decay produces particles that are identical to the helium nucleus?
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∙ 11y ago
an alpha particle
Wiki User
∙ 11y ago
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Is an alpha particle is identical to the nucleus of a?
An alpha particle is identical to the nucleus of Helium atom
What are examples of nuclear changes in mass?
Changes in nuclear mass can happen when, say, radioactive decay occurs and a nucleus loses mass. When an unstable atomic nucleus "adjusts" to a new state, it dumps a particle or particles, and energy, and its mass decreases. Certainly nuclear fission will cause a dramatic reduction in nuclear mass, but this is the actual "breaking up" of a nucleus into smaller nuclei called fission fragments. Perhaps an example will help. The element radon is an inert gas, but it has no stable isotopes. It's most stable isotope, 222Rn, appears as a decay product of radium; it's a radioactive daughter. It turns out that 222Rn decays by alpha emission, and that means that two neutrons and two protons are kicked out of the nucleus. This will produce the radioactive daughter product polonium-218. It is possible for a nucleus to absorb a particle and gain mass. Frequently this will cause nuclear instability (if it doesn't actually initiate fission) and create a radionuclide, which is unstable and will eventually decay. But something like, say, neutron absorption (neutron capture) will result in an atomic nuclei with a greater mass than the original atomic nucleus that absorbed that neutron. It is of note that fusion knits smaller nuclei or particles together to create a larger nucleus, but this may not necessarily be considered a "simple increase" of mass in a nucleus, though the resultant nucleus will be heavier than any constituent nucuei or particles. You may want an example. If we stick some uranium-238 into an operating nuclear reactor, the 238U will absorb a neutron to become 239U, which is heavier by one neutron that the atomic nucleus that absorbed that neutron. (The 239U is unstable and decays in a couple of steps to make 239Pu, which is used as the fissile material in most nuclear bombs and as a fuel in some nuclear reactors.) Use the links below to related articles posted by our friends at Wikipedia, where knowledge is free.
Is nuclear decay an example of a nuclear change?
Yes, it is. Nuclear decay is a process that an unstable atom goes through to lose energy and move toward a more stable state. (It may take more than one decay.) In nuclear decay, the nucleus undergoes a change by releasing a particle or particles and electromagnetic energy. Links are provided to related Wikipedia articles and related questions.
How does a nuclear reaction take place?
First nuclear reactions always involve the nucleus and except for K capture beta decay never involve any of the electrons around the nucleus.There are seven different types of ordinary nuclear reactions:fission, a massive nucleus splits into two lighter fragment nuclei (about 1/3 & 2/3 the mass of the original nucleus) and several free neutrons, fission can happen spontaneously in some isotopes (e.g. plutonium-240) but is usually triggered by the capture of a neutron, as fission always produces free neutrons it is possible to produce a neutron chain reaction to keep the process goingfusion, light nuclei join forming a heavier nucleus, this reaction can only happen under conditions of very high temperature and pressure (causing the nuclei to be fully ionized, traveling at high velocity, and pressed tightly together) it is very hard to to get started and keep going (except deep inside stars) Note that fusion is the only one of these seven nuclear reactions that is affected in any way by the temperature or pressure of the environment it happens inalpha decay, a nucleus spontaneously ejects a helium nucleus (i.e. alpha particle)beta- decay, a neutron in the nucleus spontaneously transforms into a proton and the nucleus ejects an electron and an electron antineutrinobeta+ decay, a proton in the nucleus spontaneously transforms into a neutron and the nucleus ejects an positron and an electron neutrinoK capture beta decay, a proton in the nucleus spontaneously transforms into a neutron and the nucleus captures an electron from the innermost (i.e. K) electron shell and ejects an electron neutrinogamma decay, a nucleus in a metastable (i.e. excess energy) state spontaneously relaxes its proton and/or neutron shells to a lower energy state and ejects a gamma photon with an energy equal to the energy lost in the nucleusHowever if you include other subatomic particles not present in ordinary matter (e.g. muons, antimatter particles, strange particles) a much wider and more confusing variety of nuclear reactions can happen that are beyond the scope of the original question. I will only mention one of these nuclear reactions: muon catalysed cold fusion. This is interesting because it permits the fusion nuclear reaction to happen at ordinary room temperature.In muon catalyzed cold fusion the electrons around hydrogen nuclei are replaced with muons (particles identical to electrons in every way except that they have 200 times the mass), being much more massive than electrons their orbitals are much smaller. So much smaller that the nuclei can come close enough to each other at ordinary room temperature that the nuclei can fuse! The fusion energy release causes the product nucleus to lose its muons and become ionized. This process is called "muon catalyzed" because these free muons can now replace electrons around fresh hydrogen nuclei, repeating the nuclear reaction over and over without requiring any additional muons. The only problem with muon catalyzed cold fusion is that the muons required to begin this nuclear reaction are very expensive to produce.
What nuclear decay processes would form a daughter nucleus with an atomic number larger than the parent nucleus?
beta
Nuclear radiation refers to charged particles or energy emitted by an unstable what?
Nucleus
Are protons and electrons both nuclear particles?
Nuclear particles usually refer to those that are found in the nucleus of an atom. So a proton would be, an electron on the other hand orbits around the nucleus but is not found in the nucleus so would not be classed as a nuclear particle.
Is a nucleus an atom that produces nuclear energy?
No, it is a part of an atom.
What two nuclear particles are found in the nucleus?
Protons and neutrons
What three subatomic particles are found in the nucleus?
The nucleus of an atom contains only protons and neutrons. Electrons orbit the nucleus.
What is shot at isotope's nucleus to trigger nuclear chain reaction?
Gamma Particles
Reactions involving the particles in the nucleus of an atom are called what?
Nuclear Fusion. This process involves 'fusing' together two smaller nuclei to form a bigger nucleus.
What is the region in the nucleus that produces tiny cell particles needed in protein synthesis?
The region in the nucleus that produces tiny cell particles needed in protein synthesis is the nucleolus. It is responsible for making the small and large subunits of ribosomes.
Type of nuclear decay consisting of a helium nucleus?
Alpha decay. Alpha particles are the same as a helium-4 nucleus.
What is a region in the nucleus that produces tiny cell particles needed in protein synthesis?
chromosomes
What part of the cell actually divides mitosis?
the middle of the cell wallIt is the nucleus of the cell. It produces identical nuclei
What happens to a nucleus of an unstable atom?
the unstable nucleus will decay into smaller, stable particles.
