CPB Ljubljana 2018 course book

Radioactive Decay

Nuclear transformation processes

Nuclear transformation processes are those inducing transitions from one nuclear state to another. They can fall into two categories: • those which occur spontaneously , referred to as decays and • those which are initiated by bombardment with a particle from outside, called reactions . When a process occurs spontaneously conservation of energy requires that the final state be of lower energy than the initial state and the difference in these energies is liberated as kinetic energy of energetic particles being emitted.