Question

Which of the following selections completes the following nuclear reaction?

Answer 1

Answer:

n (a neutron)

Explanation:

For a chemical element:

- The lower subscript indicates the atomic number (the number of protons)

- The upper subscript indicates the mass number (the sum of protons and neutrons in the nucleus)

In the reaction described in the problem, we see that a gamma photon hits a nucleus of Calcium-40, which has

Z = 20 (20 protons)

A = 40 (40 protons+neutrons)

Which means that the number of neutrons is n =  A - Z = 40 - 20 = 20

After the reaction, we have a nucleus of Calcium-39, which has

Z = 20 (20 protons)

A = 39 (39 protons+neutrons)

Which means that the number of neutrons is n =  A - Z = 40 - 39 = 19

So, the nucleus has lost 1 neutron, which is the particle missing in the reaction.