CPB Budapest 2017

Radioactive Decay

β +

β + decay

Unstable nuclides having an excessive number of protons in comparison to neutrons tend to reduce their number of protons by undergoing β + decay where the basic transformation process is

e n p ν+β + ⇒ + + 0 0 0 1

1 1

1

+

0

The neutrino (electron-neutrino), ν e , is like antineutrino a neutral particle (lepton) with practically 0 rest mass (< 18 eV). According to this in the β + decay the atomic number of the nucleus is decreased by 1 and the number of neutrons is increased by 1 where the mass number remains unchanged. β + decay like β - decay is an isobaric nuclei transformation.