What is Beta Decay?
Beta decay is a form of radioactive decay in which the nucleus of an atom undergoes a change which causes it to emit a beta particle. The other types of radioactive decay are alpha decay and gamma decay. In addition to being a topic of general scientific interest, beta decay has a number of practical applications, especially in the field of medicine, where beta particles are sometimes used to shrink or kill tumors. Beta decay can also be utilized in medical imaging studies as a tracer. Atoms undergo beta decay when they are unstable because they have too many neutrons or too many protons. To stabilize themselves, the excess neutrons or protons are converted, conserving mass and making the nucleus more stable. In the process, the atom also changes into another element, because while the overall number of particles in the nucleus remains the same, the balance of protons and neutrons changes. In beta minus decay, an excess neutron becomes a proton, and the nucleus emits a positron and an
