Does polonium-210 undergo alpha or beta decay?

alpha decay
alpha decay Thus polonium-210 (mass number 210 and atomic number 84, i.e., a nucleus with 84 protons) decays by alpha emission to lead-206 (atomic number 82).

What happens when polonium 212 undergoes alpha decay?

Polonium-212 undergoes alpha decay to produce lead-208, which means that it gives off alpha radiation, i.e. alpha particles.

What is an alpha particle for polonium?

Polonium-210 has a half-life of 138 days, and it decays to stable lead-206 by emitting an alpha particle (an alpha particle has two protons and two neutrons). With a specific activity of 166 TBq/g, it would take about a microgram to deliver a 50 Gy (5,000 rad) whole-body radiation dose.

What element is formed when polonium 214 undergoes alpha decay?

For example, polonium-214 with atomic number 84 and mass number 214 decays to lead-210 with atomic number 82 and mass number 210.

How alpha particles are produced by polonium?

An alpha particle is produced by the alpha decay of a radioactive nucleus. Because the nucleus is unstable a piece of it is ejected, allowing the nucleus to reach a more stable state.

What particles undergo alpha decay?

Alpha decay is a nuclear decay process where an unstable nucleus changes to another element by shooting out a particle composed of two protons and two neutrons. This ejected particle is known as an alpha particle and is simply a helium nucleus.

What is alpha decay equation?

Alpha Decay Equation In α-decay, the mass number of the product nucleus (daughter nucleus) is four less than that of the decaying nucleus (parent nucleus), while the atomic number decreases by two. In general, the alpha decay equation is represented as follows: Z A X → Z − 2 A − 4 Y + 2 4 He.

What is the kinetic energy of the alpha particle in the alpha decay of polonium 210?

The alpha-decay of `Po^(210)` nuclei (in the ground state) is accompanied by emission of two groups of two groups of alpha-particles with kinetic energies `5.30` and `4.50MeV`.

What happens in the nucleus when an atom of polonium-211 decays?

Alpha decay is the radioactive emission by the nucleus of a Helium-4 nucleus, which is called the alpha particle. Helium-4 has two protons and two neutrons. So the emission of an alpha particle by Polonium-211 leaves behind a nucleus that has 82 protons and 125 neutrons.

What is the alpha decay of polonium-214?

How long does polonium 210 decay?

Polonium-210 ( 210 Po, Po-210, historically radium F) is an isotope of polonium. It undergoes alpha decay to stable 206 Pb with a half-life of 138.376 days, the longest of all naturally occurring polonium isotopes.

How does alpha decay affect the atomic mass of po210?

Po-210 has 84 protons and 126 neutrons in its nucleus. During alpha decay, an α-particle, which is essentially a Helium-4 nucleus, is emitted by the nucleus. Since the Helium-4 nucleus has 2 protons and 2 neutrons, the alpha decay process will cause the atomic number to decrease by 2 and the atomic mass to decrease by 4.

What is the decay rate of 210 Po?

The majority of the time, 210 Po decays by emission of an alpha particle only, not by emission of an alpha particle and a gamma ray; about one in 100,000 decays results in the emission of a gamma ray. This low gamma ray production rate makes it more difficult to find and identify this isotope.

What is the half life of 206 Pb in alpha decay?

It undergoes alpha decay to stable 206 Pb with a half-life of 138.376 days (about 4 1⁄2 months), the longest half-life of all naturally occurring polonium isotopes.