How does beta decay occur?

Answer 1

Beta decay occurs when a neutron emits an electron.

This decay produces a proton, an electron, and an electron antineutrino.

The electron (beta particle) is ejected from the nucleus.

An example is the beta decay of carbon-14:

#""_6^14"C" → _7^14"N" + _0^0bar(ν) + _(-1)^0"e" #

The result: the atomic number increases by one and the mass remains unchanged.

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Answer 2

Cooper Anderson

Beta decay occurs when an unstable atomic nucleus emits a beta particle, which can be either an electron (β^-) or a positron (β^+). This process happens due to the weak nuclear force, where a neutron in the nucleus is converted into a proton, an electron, and an antineutrino (for β^- decay) or a positron and a neutrino (for β^+ decay). The emission of the beta particle reduces the number of neutrons in the nucleus, while increasing the number of protons, resulting in the transformation of one element into another.

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Answer 3

Naomi Aronson

Beta decay occurs when a neutron in an atomic nucleus transforms into a proton, an electron (beta particle), and an antineutrino. This process is governed by the weak nuclear force.

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Answer from HIX Tutor

When evaluating a one-sided limit, you need to be careful when a quantity is approaching zero since its sign is different depending on which way it is approaching zero from. Let us look at some examples.