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radioactivity
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decay of beryllium-7 decay of hafnium-180 decay of K0 meson Figure 4: The decay of a particle of mass M into two particles the sum of whose rest masses is less than M (see text). Fission
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radioactivity

Also known as: disintegration, nuclear disintegration, radioactive decay(Show More)
Written by
Ellis P. Steinberg
Director, Chemistry Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois, 1982–88; Section Head, Nuclear and Inorganic Chemistry, 1974–82.
Ellis P. SteinbergAll
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Alpha decay, the emission of helium ions, exhibits sharp line spectra when spectroscopic measurements of the alpha-particle energies are made. For even–even alpha emitters the most intense alpha group or line is always that leading to the ground state of the daughter. Weaker lines of lower energy go to excited states, and there are frequently numerous lines observable. The main decay group of even–even alpha emitters exhibits a highly regular dependence on the atomic...

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