NEET-XII-Physics
46: The Nucleus
- #8In beta decay, an electron (or a positron) is emitted by a nucleus. Does the remaining atom get oppositely charged?Ans : In beta decay, a neutron from the nucleus is converted to a proton releasing an electron and an antineutrino or a proton is converted to a neutron releasing a positron and a neutrino.
`` \,\mathrm{\,i.e.\,}{\beta }^{-}\,\mathrm{\,decay\,}:n\to p+e+\stackrel{¯}{\nu }``
`` {\beta }^{+}\,\mathrm{\,decay\,}:p\to n+{e}^{+}+\nu ``
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Since the number of valence electrons present in the parent atom do not change, the remaining atom does not get oppositely charged. Instead, due to a change in the atomic number, there's a formation of a new element.
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