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What type of radiation results in the least change in atomic number?
Wiki User
∙ 12y ago
A gamma ray is released from atomic nuclei under certain conditions, and the generation of a gamma ray photon alonewill not change the mass of an atomic nucleus. The gamma ray is a form of electromagnetic energy. Other forms of radiation released from nuclei are particulate, and the particles released take mass from the nucleus with them when they go. Beta radiation takes a little, and alpha radiation takes a lot more.
Wiki User
∙ 14y ago
Wiki User
∙ 14y agoGamma radiation results in the loss of a photon, essentially insignificant. Beta decay results in the loss of an electron... essentially insignificant but more than gamma.
and everything else results in the loss of rather massive particles.
Wiki User
∙ 12y agoGamma radiation involves the least change to Atomic Mass number. However, gamma radiation is almost always associated with a precipitating event, such as beta or alpha decay, that leaves the nucleus in an excited state. Exceptions do exist, such as the metastable form of Tc-99m, which can stay in the excited state for quite some time, though not too long a period of time, making it quite useful as a medical imaging tracer.
Wiki User
∙ 13y agoThere are types of radioactive decay that leave the atomic number unchanged. These include neutron emission, internal conversion, and isomeric transition. In the later two, the mass number is also unchanged.
Wiki User
∙ 13y agoAlpha radiation because it takes 2 protons and 2 neutrons away from the nucleus. Beta decay does not change the mass enough to affect the mass number and gamma decay doesn't either.
Wiki User
∙ 14y agoBoth beta and gamma radiation have little to no effect on the mass number but only Gamma has absolutely no effect on it.
Wiki User
∙ 12y agoGamma radiation
There is no change in atomic number because it does not ionise.
Wiki User
∙ 15y agoAlpha radiation
Wiki User
∙ 14y agoAlpha radiation reduces it by 4.
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What radiation results in the greatest change in atomic number?
Setting aside spontaneous fission, which is the natural "splitting" of an atom into fissin fragments, it is alpha decay that results in the greatest change in atomic number. The alpha particle carries off a helium-4 nucleus, which is a pair of protons and a pair of neutrons. Atomic number of an element involved in an alpha decay goes down by two.
The process of positron emission results in a change to the atomic nucleus. Is that change a decrease of 1 or a decrease of 2 or an increase of 1 or is there no change?
In positron emission, atomic number decreases by one. That's because a proton in the nucleus of the element that is about to undergo positron emission changes into a neutron. This is beta plus decay, by the way. You'll recall that the atomic number of an element, which is that element's chemical identity, is determined solely by the number of protons in the nucleus. If we "lose" a proton because it changes into a neutron, atomic number will now decrease by one. Check out the links below to related posts.
How do the three forms of radioactivity change the atomic number?
They don't. Only atoms really have an atomic number, which is the number of protons in each atom, so when that number changes as in alpha and beta radiation the atom no longer has a neutral charge and becomes an ion. Gamma radiation is an electro-magnetic wave so it doesn't affect the atomic number and the particle is still an atom. Hypothetically, nd I'm not sure it's possible, alpha radiation would reduce the atomic number by 2, beta would reduce it by 1 and gamma doesn't reduce it at all anyway.
What is the change in atomic number when atom emits gamma radiation?
When a beta particle is emitted from a nucleus via Beta- decay, the mass number stays the same, and the atomic number goes up one, because one neutron is changed into one proton by Beta- decay.In Beta+ decay, the opposite is true. A proton is converted into a neutron, again keeping the mass number the same, but in this case reducing the atomic number by one.The ending result is different, however. In Beta-, the beta particle is an electron, while in Beta+, the beta particle is a positron.
What happens to an atom when they emit beta radiation?
nothing (_*_)When a nucleus emits a beta particle, it loses one of its neutrons and gains one proton. Hence, it's mass and atomic number remain the same but its charge and proton number is increased by +1.^Excerpts from above:"...nucleus...gains one proton...""...atomic number remain the same...."The mass number remains the same because the neutron decays into a proton with the release of a beta particle. However, since one proton is gained, the atomic number also increases by 1. It does not remain the same like the mass number. Since the atomic number increased (the nucleus gained a positively charged proton), the charge does increase by +1.Read more: What_happens_to_a_nucleus_when_it_emits_a_beta_particle
What is the change in the atomic number when an atom emits gamma radiation?
The atomic number does not change when gamma radiation is emitted.
How are the atomic number and mass number of a nuclide affected by the emisson of gramma radiation?
Any change of the atomic number.
What radiation results in the greatest change in atomic number?
Setting aside spontaneous fission, which is the natural "splitting" of an atom into fissin fragments, it is alpha decay that results in the greatest change in atomic number. The alpha particle carries off a helium-4 nucleus, which is a pair of protons and a pair of neutrons. Atomic number of an element involved in an alpha decay goes down by two.
How is the atomic number changed by gamma decay?
There is no change in atomic number with the emission of gamma radiation. Unlike alpha or beta radiation, it does not have any kind of particles. It's emission results only when an excited nuclei goes to an unexcited state by emitting these.
What type of nuclear decay results in the atomic number increasing by one with no change in mass?
Beta- decay result in an increase of atomic number by one, with no resulting change in the atomic mass number.There is a change in mass, since an electron and an electron anti-neutrino is emitted, and also because the neutron changes into a proton, but the atomic mass number, per se, does not change.
How does beta radiation affect the nucleus?
The end result of beta- decay is that a neutron is converted into a proton, increasing the atomic number while keeping the atomic mass number the same. The end result of beta+ decay is that a proton is converted into a neutron, decreasing the atomic number while keeping the atomic mass number the same.
Emission of gamma rays does not change the atomic number of a nucleus?
no, gamma rays are very high frequency electromagnetic radiation and are not protons or electrons as alpha and beta radiation are respectively.
What radiation decreases the atomic number of the atom?
alpha
What happens to the atomic number when an isotope releases gamma radiation?
It depends on what caused the gamma event in the first place.Strictly speaking, gamma radiation is caused by the de-excitation of the nucleus, so the atomic number (and Atomic Mass) does not change during a gamma event.However, the gamma event is usually precipitated by some other event, such as a beta or alpha decay that does change the configuration of the nucleus. An alpha event reduces the atomic number by 2 (and reduces the atomic mass by 4), while the beta event increases the atomic number by 1 (and does not change the atomic mass very much).Its actually more complex than that, but the answer to the original question is that nothing really happens to the atomic number during a gamma event.
Does Beta radiation decrease the atomic number of the atom?
yes it can
Does the atomic number changes when an ion is formed?
No, the atomic number does not change when an ion is formed. The number of protons does not change when an ion is formed, so the atomic mass would not change.
What are the 4 types of radiation and what does each type do to the nucleus?
Usually with the '4 types of radiation' it is referred to:- alpha radiation (emission of an alpha particle = a helium nucleus = 2 neutrons + 2 protons):Hence for the emitting nucleus the mass number decreases by 4 and the atomic number by 2.- beta-minus radiation (emission of a beta- particle = an electron)Hence for the emitting nucleus the mass number remains the same and the atomic number increases by 1 (a neutron decays into a proton and beta- radiation)- beta-plus radiation (emission of a beta+ particle = a positron)Hence for the emitting nucleus the mass number remains the same and the atomic number decreases by 1 (under the addition of energy a proton decays into a neutron and a positron)- gamma radiation (emission of high energetic photons)The emitting nucleus doesn't change its mass number and atomic number,but it jumps from a higher energy level to a lower energy level.
