Question

Carbon-14 undergoes radioactive decay in the reaction above. Determine the type of radiation emitted in this reaction and describe what is happening to the nucleus during this reaction.

Answer 1

B.Beta radiation is emitted in this equation because the atomic number increases (from 6 to 7). This means a neutron has decayed into a proton, which occurs by emitting an electron, 0-1e.

The atomic mass number does not change because a beta particle has a much smaller mass than the atom. The atomic number goes up because a neutron has turned into an extra proton.

Answer 2

Answer: The beta-particle is being released in the reaction and the nucleus is changing from to nitrogen.

Explanation:

Carbon-14 undergoes a radioactive decay by the process of beta-minus decay.

In beta-minus decay, a neutron gets converted to a proton and an electron.

The equation for the beta-minus decay of carbon-14 follows the reaction:

$_6^{14}\textrm{C}\rightarrow _7^{14}\textrm{N}+_{-1}^0\beta$

In this reaction beta-particle is being released carrying -1 charge. Another name for this particle is known as electron.

In this decay process, the nucleus is changing from carbon to nitrogen. The property of the nucleus is changing completely as number of protons is getting increased.