Exploring Radioactive Decay
What happens during the decay of actinium-223?
Actinium-223 decays through the emission of an alpha particle. What is the resulting nucleus produced?
Answer:
When actinium-223 undergoes decay by emitting an alpha particle, the resulting nucleus is francium-219.
Actinium-223 is a radioactive isotope that undergoes decay by emitting an alpha particle. During alpha decay, an alpha particle, which consists of two protons and two neutrons (essentially a helium-4 nucleus), is ejected from the nucleus of the atom.
As a result of the decay of actinium-223, the nucleus transforms into francium-219. This new nucleus has an atomic number that is reduced by 2 compared to actinium-223. The atomic weight of francium-219 is also lower due to the loss of the alpha particle during the decay process.