In: Chemistry
1A. What kind of natural decay is expected for nuclei with p>84? Why?
1B. Which type(s) of natural decay occur most often for nuclei with a high n/p ratio but p<50?
2. Balance the following nuclide reactions:
A. 141Nd decays by electron capture.
B. 238 U + 13C --> ____________ + 6n What isotope of what element is made in this reaction?
3. Which of the forms of radioactive decay are called ionizing radiation? Why?
1A
The nuclei with no: of protons greater than 84 are mostly unstable, so they eventually undergo radio active decay to attain stability. There are mainly 3 kinds of natural decay. (1) Alpha decay (2) beta particle emission (3) gamma radiation.
Alpha decay is more likely to occur for nuclei with high proton number, because upon alpha decay the number of protons get reduced by 2 (mass no reduces by 4) and hence attains more stability.
1B
Nuclei with a high n/p ratio mostly undergo beta emission, because this decay mode allows the number of neutrons to be decreased by one and the number of protons to be increased by one, thus lowering the n/p ratio.