Answer to Question #77190 in Inorganic Chemistry for Sakshi

Question

What is binding energy? What are the effects of Beta-decay, beta+- decay,abd electron capture on the atomic no.z and the mass no.A of the parent atom?

Answer 1

Binding energy is the minimum energy required to disassemble a system of particles into separate parts.

Beta decay is a type of radioactive decay in which a beta ray (fast energetic electron or positron) and a neutrino are emitted from an atomic nucleus. For example, beta decay of a neutron transforms it into a proton by the emission of an electron, or conversely a proton is converted into a neutron by the emission of a positron. The probability of a nuclide decaying due to beta and other forms of decay is determined by its nuclear binding energy. Decay times for many nuclides that are subject to beta decay can be thousands of years.

Electron capture is sometimes included as a type of beta decay, because the basic nuclear process, mediated by the weak force, is the same. In electron capture, an inner atomic electron is captured by a proton in the nucleus, transforming it into a neutron, and an electron neutrino is released.