What are the main differences in alpha decay and beta decay?

1 Answer
reudhreghs ยท Denise Granger
Apr 8, 2016

Alpha decay releases a helium nucleus, while beta decay only releases an electron.

Explanation:

Alpha decay is the release of a helium nucleus, which is two protons and two neutrons. This decreases the total mass by 4 and the atomic number by 2.

Beta decay is the decay of a neutron into a proton, which releases an electron. This keeps the mass the same, but increases the atomic number by 1.


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