Interpretation: To identify the factor that determines the type of decay.
Concept Introduction: The process which involves the formation of more than one nuclide via a collision between two nuclei or between one nucleus and a subatomic particle, is known as a nuclear reaction.
Answer to Problem 11LC
The factor that determines the type of decay in a radioactive isotope is the neutron-to-proton ratio.
Explanation of Solution
The nucleus is unstable sometimes and may lead to spontaneous decay for various reactions. In a radioactive isotope, the neutron-to-proton ratio directs the type of decay. The instability in a nucleus occurs when the relative number of neutrons is much more than the relative number of protons.
A neutron that emits electrons, becomes a proton. The chemical equation can be depicted as follows:
Thus, the factor that directs the type of decay in a radioactive isotope is the neutron-to-proton ratio.
Chapter 25 Solutions
Chemistry 2012 Student Edition (hard Cover) Grade 11
- ChemistryChemistryISBN:9781305957404Author:Steven S. Zumdahl, Susan A. Zumdahl, Donald J. DeCostePublisher:Cengage LearningChemistryChemistryISBN:9781259911156Author:Raymond Chang Dr., Jason Overby ProfessorPublisher:McGraw-Hill EducationPrinciples of Instrumental AnalysisChemistryISBN:9781305577213Author:Douglas A. Skoog, F. James Holler, Stanley R. CrouchPublisher:Cengage Learning
- Organic ChemistryChemistryISBN:9780078021558Author:Janice Gorzynski Smith Dr.Publisher:McGraw-Hill EducationChemistry: Principles and ReactionsChemistryISBN:9781305079373Author:William L. Masterton, Cecile N. HurleyPublisher:Cengage LearningElementary Principles of Chemical Processes, Bind...ChemistryISBN:9781118431221Author:Richard M. Felder, Ronald W. Rousseau, Lisa G. BullardPublisher:WILEY