1.

An isotope of radium with mass number 226 undergoes radioactive transformation to a lead isotope with mass number 206. How many alpha- and beta-disintegrations were involved in the process?

Answer»


Solution :The number of ALPHA-disintegrations is obtained by dividing the change in the mass number by 4, which is the mass number of the alpha-particle. We have
`N_(alpha)=(A_(Ra)-A_(Pb))/A_(He)=(226-206)/4=5`
After five alpha-disintegrations the decrease in the atomic number will be 10, and `Z_(Ra)-Z_(Ph)=88-82=6`. It follows from this that there are in addition FOUR beta-disintegrations, each of which results in a UNIT increase in the atomic number.


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