Understanding Alpha Decay
Alpha decay is a type of radioactive decay where an atom emits an alpha particle. An alpha particle consists of two protons and two neutrons, which is essentially a helium nucleus (⁴He).
The Process
1. Start with the parent nucleus: Rn-220 (Radon-220)
2. Alpha particle emission: Rn-220 emits an alpha particle (⁴He).
3. Daughter nucleus: The resulting nucleus will have a mass number reduced by 4 and an atomic number reduced by 2.
Calculation
* Mass Number: 220 - 4 = 216
* Atomic Number: 86 - 2 = 84
Identifying the Daughter Nucleus
The element with atomic number 84 is Polonium (Po).
Therefore, the product of alpha decay of Rn-220 is Po-216 (Polonium-216).
The complete nuclear equation for this decay is:
²²⁰Rn → ⁴He + ²¹⁶Po
