Answer to Question #217612 in Civil and Environmental Engineering for syra

Question

Write a balanced nuclear equation for the reaction in which oxygen- 15 undergoes positron emission

Answer 1

Oxygen-15 has 7 neutrons and 8 protons.

It is unstable because it is below the band of stability.

Its n:p ratio is 7:8 or 0.88:1.

It has too few neutrons for the number of protons, but it would become more stable if it could gain a neutron or lose a proton.

One way to do this is by positron (β⁺) decay.

$_1^1P \to _0^1n +_1^0e+_0^0v_e$

β⁺ decay accomplishes both of these.

It gets rid of a proton and forms a neutron (and a neutrino).

For oxygen-15, the reaction is

$_8^{15}O \to _7^{15}N +_1^0e+_0^0v_e$