Why atoms are radioactive (Continued)

In our previous post we have talked about the stability belt and told that when nucleus fall in this stability belt then they are stable and when they don't they become unstable and as a result they emit alpha and beta and many more particles. Now we will see in some greater detail what happens when the nucleus does not fall in the stability zone and how and why this nucleus emit such radiation.

(a) When n/p ratio is high: When n/p ratio is high means there is more neutron in the nucleus than that is required to gain stability so nucleus tries to loose some neutron and have some more proton in order to decrease n/p ratio. To do so neutron changes into proton and during this conversion a another particle known as neutrino is release. This particle contain no charge and negligible mass and this particle results in the emission of beta radiation (high energy electron).

(b) When n/p ratio is low: When n/p ratio is low which means there is less neutron and more proton in the nucleus and to decrease the number of proton there is an emission of alpha particle or positron from the nucleus. In this way nucleus can attain stability.

To know about alpha, beta and gamma radiations read our next post.