What is the difference between beta-minus and beta-plus decay?

Beta-minus: Neutron transforms into a proton, emitting an electron and antineutrino. | Beta-plus: Proton transforms into a neutron, emitting a positron and neutrino.

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What is the difference between beta-minus and beta-plus decay?

Beta-minus: Neutron transforms into a proton, emitting an electron and antineutrino. | Beta-plus: Proton transforms into a neutron, emitting a positron and neutrino.

Compare alpha and gamma decay.

Alpha Decay: Ejects a helium nucleus, changes element. | Gamma Decay: Ejects a high energy photon, element remains the same.

How do neutrinos and antineutrinos differ?

Neutrino: Emitted in beta-plus decay. | Antineutrino: Emitted in beta-minus decay.

Compare electrons and positrons.

Electron: Negatively charged. | Positron: Positively charged (anti-electron).

Differentiate between alpha particles and beta particles.

Alpha Particle: Consists of 2 protons and 2 neutrons, +2 charge, relatively massive. | Beta Particle: Electron or positron, -1 or +1 charge, much less massive.

What is radioactive decay?

The process where unstable atomic nuclei release energy and particles to become more stable.

What is an alpha particle?

A particle consisting of two protons and two neutrons, equivalent to a helium nucleus (mathrmHe2+mathrm{He}^{2+}).

What is a neutrino?

An electrically neutral particle with nearly zero mass, emitted in beta-plus decay.

What is a positron?

A particle with the same mass as an electron but with a positive charge, also known as an antielectron (e+e^{+} or β+\beta^{+}).

What is an antineutrino?

An electrically neutral particle with nearly zero mass, emitted in beta-minus decay.

What is a gamma ray?

A high-energy photon emitted by an excited nucleus during gamma decay (gammagamma).

What is alpha decay?

A nucleus emits an alpha particle (24He^4_2He), decreasing the atomic number by 2 and the mass number by 4.

What is beta-minus decay?

A neutron transforms into a proton, emitting an electron (ee^-) and an antineutrino (vˉ\bar{v}), increasing the atomic number by 1, while the mass number remains the same.

What is beta-plus decay?

A proton transforms into a neutron, emitting a positron (e+e^+) and a neutrino (vv), decreasing the atomic number by 1, while the mass number remains the same.

What is gamma decay?

An excited nucleus releases energy by emitting a gamma ray photon (γ\gamma). The atomic number and mass number remain unchanged.

Define alpha particle.

A particle consisting of two protons and two neutrons, equivalent to a helium nucleus (He2+He^{2+}).

Define neutrino.

An electrically neutral particle with nearly zero mass, emitted in beta-plus decay.