Alpha and beta decays do not change the type of element. An element is distinguished by the number of protons in the nucleus. Alpha and beta decays do not change the number of protons, but only change the number of neutrons and the number of electrons. When an element absorbs or releases an electron it may become a new atom (an ion), but the number of protons and neutrons did not change. Therefore if an element changes to a different element, the number of protons (and thus the number of electrons) must change. This may happen in the gamma decay.

Gamma decay is a type of radioactive decay in which an excited nucleus releases a gamma ray, a high-energy photon, to transition to a lower energy state. The emission of a gamma ray alone does not change the number of protons or neutrons in the nucleus, so it does not result in the formation of a different element.