Understanding Positron Emission
* Positron Emission: A proton within the nucleus converts into a neutron, releasing a positron (a particle with the same mass as an electron but with a positive charge).
* Atomic Number Change: Since a proton is lost, the atomic number decreases by 1.
* Mass Number Remains Constant: The mass number, representing the total number of protons and neutrons, remains unchanged.
Applying it to Phosphorus-30
* Phosphorus-30: Has an atomic number of 15 and a mass number of 30.
* Positron Emission: A proton converts to a neutron, reducing the atomic number by 1.
* Product: The resulting element will have an atomic number of 14 (15 - 1 = 14). This corresponds to Silicon (Si).
The reaction can be represented as:
```
³⁰₁₅P → ³⁰₁₄Si + ⁰₁e⁺ + νₑ
```
Where:
* ³⁰₁₅P is Phosphorus-30
* ³⁰₁₄Si is Silicon-30
* ⁰₁e⁺ is a positron
* νₑ is an electron neutrino
Therefore, the product of phosphorus-30 decay by positron emission is Silicon-30.
