Question: How does alpha decay change the nucleus of a radioactive atom?
1. Predict: As you observed in the warm-up activity, an alpha particle consists of two protons
and two neutrons. How will the emission of an alph
...
Question: How does alpha decay change the nucleus of a radioactive atom?
1. Predict: As you observed in the warm-up activity, an alpha particle consists of two protons
and two neutrons. How will the emission of an alpha particle affect the following?
A. The atomic number of the atom: _______Atomic Number will go down_______
B. The mass number of the atom: ___Mass number will go down____________
2. Calculate: Turn on Write equation. What you see is an equation that shows the original
uranium atom on the left. The boxes on the right represent the daughter product—the atom
produced by radioactive decay—and the emitted alpha particle.
A. In the top left box, write the mass number of the daughter product and press “Enter”
on your keyboard. What is this number? _____4_________
B. In the bottom left box, write the atomic number of the daughter product and press
“Enter.” What is this number? ______2________
C. In the next set of boxes, enter the mass number and atomic number of the alpha
particle, which has the same composition as the nucleus of a helium (He) atom. You
may need to write the numbers and element symbols below the image. Use
the format 238/92 U for example.
238U -> 234 Th + 4 He
92 90 2
D. According to your equation, what isotope remains after the alpha decay of
uranium-238? (Note: You can look up element symbols on the periodic table.)
____________Thorium_______________________________________________
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shared via CourseHero.com3. Check: Turn on Show equation, and click Play. The equation will appear at the end of the
animation. Was your prediction correct? __Yes___________ If not, modify your equation
above.
(Activity A continued on next page)
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