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Nuclear transformations and radioactive emissions: Part I—primary transformation pathways of unstable nuclei

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Abstract

To understand the origin and character of individual radioactive emissions accompanying nuclear transformation processes, it is essential to understand what an unstable nucleus is, what its motivation is to transform, and how the nucleus selects the best way to transform. The following chapter represents part I of a series of two articles. It introduces the composition of stable atomic nuclei, the meaning of “isotopes”, the discrepancy between the mass of the nucleus and the sum of the mass of the nucleons it is composed of (the “mass defect”), and the parameter of “mean nucleon binding energy”. It is the fate of those unstable nuclei, that they transform to more stable ones. Part I will focus on the “primary” pathways of those transformations, i.e., those, where the nucleon composition of an unstable nucleus is modified to gain mean nucleon binding energy. Those transformation processes are the origin of certain radioactive emissions, and part I will discuss those originating from the primary transformation pathways, i.e., mainly β- and α-emissions.

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Notes

  1. Of course, in the inanimate world terms like “personal motivations” or “wishes” etc. are incorrect wording. There is no “fate” of unstable nuclei or of emitted positrons etc. However, those terms are utilized in few examples throughout the text to make the physics more susceptible to the understanding of the reader.

  2. There are more examples of how mass is transformed into energy (e.g. the annihilation of a positron and an electron), but also examples of the opposite (the pair formation pathway in secondary transitions, where an amount of ΔE = 1022 keV is transformed into two particles, the electron and the positron, with exactly owing the mass equivalent of this energy), see part II.

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  1. Institute of Nuclear Chemistry, Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, Mainz, Germany

    Frank Rösch

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  1. Frank Rösch
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Correspondence to Frank Rösch.

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Rösch, F. Nuclear transformations and radioactive emissions: Part I—primary transformation pathways of unstable nuclei. ChemTexts 4, 13 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40828-018-0068-x

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