Courses
Courses for Kids
Free study material
Offline Centres
More
Store Icon
Store

What happens in negative beta decay?

seo-qna
SearchIcon
Answer
VerifiedVerified
446.1k+ views
Hint: For understanding this phenomenon of beta decay, the reaction must obey the law of conservation, according to this the mass will be constant during reaction. Only Neutron/Proton transforms into others.

Complete step by step answer:
Basically, there are two types of beta decay; Beta-minus decay and beta plus decay and Beta-plus decay is also known as positron emission. Negative beta decay is also known as Beta-minus decay, Beta articles are electrons with positive electric charge particles or antielectrons. Beta decay occurs only when nucleus have too many electrons or too many protons. Beta decay is the process of transformation of one neutron or proton into the other.
In negative beta decay, an atom converts one of its neutrons into proton and it also releases the electron and anti-neutrons. This happens when an atom does not have a lot of protons but has a bit too many neutrons.
A simple example would be Hydrogen-3. During beta-minus decay, it converts into Helium-3 and releases an electron and an antineutrino in the process. The equation is:
${{}_1}^3C \longrightarrow {{}_2}^3He + e^- + \overline{v_e}$
Where, $e^-$ is an electron and $\overline{v_e}$ is an antineutrino.
Above reaction takes place because conservation laws are obeyed. An isolated neutron is unstable and will decay with a half-life of 10.5 minutes.

Note:
Firstly, we have to include the proton number at the bottom so it was easier to see the difference in the new atom. During beta-decay, no mass is lost, and the total mass stays constant before and after the reaction. The leptons emitted in beta decay did not exist in the nucleus before the decay–they are created at the instant of the decay.