Question

What is the energy released in this alpha decay reaction 23090Th?22688Ra+42He90230Th?88226Ra+24He? (The atomic mass of 230Th230Th is 230.033139 u and that of 226Ra226Ra is 226.025402 u)

Answer 1

A core that emits an alpha particle loses two protons and two neutrons. Therefore, the atom number Z is reduced by 2, the number of mass A decreases by 4, and the number of neutrons drops by 2. The decay can be expressed in the form

where X is known as the parent nucleus and Y the daughter nucleus

When the nucleus of one element changes to be equal to the nucleus of another, as in the case of alpha decay, the process is known as spontaneous decay. In any of these spontaneous decays, the relativistic energy and the moment of the isolated parent nuclei must be conserved. If we identify as the mass of the parent nucleus, as the mass of the daughter nucleus and as the mass of the alpha particle, we can define the energy of disintegration Q of the system as

when the masses are expressed in unit u, more convenient, it is possible to calculate Q in MeV using the expression

The energy released from the next decomposition reaction

Is:

where

where the atomic mass for an alpha particle is:

substituting the values we get