Fig. 1.1 shows part of a radioactive decay series plotted on a graph of nucleon number against proton number. Nucleus X decays by alpha emission to form nuc...
Question 1 Report
Fig. 1.1 shows part of a radioactive decay series plotted on a graph of nucleon number against proton number. Nucleus X decays by alpha emission to form nucleus Y. Nucleus Y then decays by beta emission to form nucleus Z.
Nucleus X has nucleon number 232 and proton number 90.
What are the nucleon number and proton number of nucleus Z?
Answer Details
This question tests applying alpha and beta decay rules to a decay series.
Starting with X: nucleon number 232, proton number 90.
Alpha decay (X then Y): nucleon number decreases by 4, proton number decreases by 2. So Y has nucleon number 232 - 4 = 228 and proton number 90 - 2 = 88.
Beta decay (Y then Z): nucleon number stays the same, proton number increases by 1 (a neutron converts to a proton). So Z has nucleon number 228 and proton number 88 + 1 = 89.
Z has nucleon number 228 and proton number 89.
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