Does radioactive decay follow the law of conservation of mass and energy?
Yes, Many nuclei are radioactive. This means they are unstable, and will eventually decay by emitting a particle, transforming the nucleus into another nucleus, or into a lower energy state. A chain of decays takes place until a stable nucleus is reached. During radioactive decay, principles of conservation apply. In alpha decay, the nucleus emits an alpha particle; an alpha particle is essentially a helium nucleus, so it’s a group of two protons and two neutrons. A helium nucleus is very stable. An example of an alpha decay involves uranium-238: The process of transforming one element to another is known as transmutation. Alpha particles do not travel far in air before being absorbed; this makes them very safe for use in smoke detectors, a common household item. Beta decay A beta particle is often an electron, but can also be a positron, a positively-charged particle that is the anti-matter equivalent of the electron. If an electron is involved, the number of neutrons in the nucleus d
