IB Physics HL E 3 8 Decay Equations Questions

Balance HL nuclear-decay equations by conserving nucleon number and charge, identifying missing particles and decay sequences.

Exam points

complete alpha, beta-minus, beta-plus and electron-capture equations by conserving nucleon number and proton number
identify missing electrons, positrons, neutrinos, antineutrinos or neutrons from nuclear reaction data
select and order decay processes such as neutron capture, electron capture, alpha decay and beta decay to obtain a stated daughter nucleus

[Maximum number: 2]

A short-range attractive force operates between nucleons.

Radioactive potassium-40 $\left({ }_{19}^{40} \mathrm{~K}\right)$ undergoes $\beta^{-}$ decay to form a nuclide of calcium (Ca).

Write down the complete equation for this radioactive decay.

{ }_{19}^{40} \mathrm{~K} \rightarrow

$\begin{aligned} { }_{19}^{40} \mathrm{~K} \rightarrow{ }_{20}^{40} \mathrm{Ca} +{ }_{-1}^{0} \beta+\bar{\nu} \end{aligned}$

All question bank results loaded