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

Analyse complete nuclear decay equations and multi-step decay chains.
Determine missing particles, nuclide numbers and decay products using conservation laws.
Explain alpha, beta-plus, beta-minus, gamma decay and electron capture at HL.

[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

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

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