Alpha Beta Gamma Decay
Why Nuclei Decay at All
A nucleus is a tight ball of protons and neutrons held together by the short-range strong nuclear force, which must overcome the electric repulsion between protons. For very large nuclei, or ones with the wrong proton-to-neutron ratio, this balance is unstable, and the nucleus sheds energy or particles to reach a more stable state. This is radioactive decay, and it happens in three main forms: alpha, beta, and gamma.
Alpha Decay — The Nucleus Ejects a Helium Core
An alpha particle is a helium-4 nucleus (2 protons + 2 neutrons), a very stable package. A heavy nucleus (atomic number greater than about 82), where the strong force can no longer hold together against the mutual repulsion of so many protons, lowers its energy by ejecting one.
The nucleus X loses 4 units of mass number and 2 units of atomic number, becoming a different element two places to the left on the periodic table:
ZAX→Z−2A−4Y+24α
The alpha particle is written as 24He2+ — a helium ion. It is positively charged and relatively heavy, so it travels only a few centimetres in air and is stopped by a sheet of paper.
Example: Uranium-238 decays to thorium-234:
92238U→90234Th+24α
Beta Decay — A Neutron Turns Into a Proton (or Vice Versa)
Beta decay is more subtle: the nucleus doesn't eject a pre-existing particle. A neutron inside it, in a nucleus with too many neutrons for stability, converts into a proton, an electron, and an antineutrino, lowering the nucleus's energy. The electron is ejected as a beta particle (β−); the new proton stays behind.
01n→11p+−10e+νˉe
Mass number stays the same (a neutron and proton weigh almost the same), but atomic number increases by 1 — the element moves one place to the right:
ZAX→Z+1AY+−10β+νˉe
The beta particle is not an orbital electron — it is created inside the nucleus at the moment of decay. The antineutrino carries away some energy and momentum; it is nearly massless and barely interacts with matter.
Example: Carbon-14 decays to nitrogen-14:
614C→714N+−10β+νˉe
A proton-rich nucleus does the reverse via beta-plus decay (β+): a proton converts into a neutron and emits a positron (the electron's antimatter twin) plus a neutrino.
11p→01n++10e+νe
Gamma Decay — The Nucleus Sheds Excess Energy
After alpha or beta decay, the daughter nucleus is often left in an excited state — extra energy, same number of protons and neutrons. It sheds this energy by emitting a high-energy photon, a gamma ray (γ), dropping to a lower energy level much as an electron drops to a lower orbit — except here the energy is millions of times larger. Neither the mass number nor the atomic number changes:
ZAX∗→ZAX+γ
| Decay type | Mass number (A) | Atomic number (Z) | Particle emitted | …