Question

The decay of radium-226 produces an isotope

Answer 1

Answer:

 ²²⁶₈₈Ra → ²²²₈₆Rn + ⁴₂He  +⁰₀γ

Explanation:

This radioactive decay occurs when the unstable radium-226 atom wants to lose energy by emitting an alpha particle from its nucleus which is an helium nucleus with no electron. The radium (86) is transformed to radon(Rn) where the atomic number of radium (88) is reduced by two units into radon, Rn (86) and mass number reduced by 4 units.

The equation for the transformation is;

 ²²⁶₈₈Ra → ²²²₈₆Rn + ⁴₂He  +⁰₀γ  where

²²⁶₈₈Ra ---------radium-226

²²²₈₆Rn -------radon-222

⁴₂He ----------alpha particle

⁰₀γ ------------energy

Note that ⁴₂He can also be written as : ⁴₂∝