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Radioactive Decay
Alpha decay (�) is the emission of an alpha particle from an atom’s nucleus; it contains two protons and two neutrons – which is equivalent to a helium-4 nucleus. When an atom emits an� particle, the atom's atomic mass will decrease by four (because two protons and two neutrons are lost) and the atomic number will decrease by two. An example of alpha decay takes place when uranium decays into thorium by emitting an alpha particle.

Beta decay (β) is the conversion of a neutron into a proton and an electron, where the electron is expelled from the atom as a β-particle. When this occurs the mass of the atom will not change, though the atomic number will increase by one, since there is an additional proton, an example of this is the decay carbon-14 into the nitrogen.
Natural radioactive decay works according to the principle of half-life; this is the amount of time needed for one-half of the radioactive substance to decay. In contrast, nuclear...

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Title: Radioactive Decay
Approximate word count: 1155
Approximate pages: 5 (250 words per double-spaced page)

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