Radioactivity: Beta Decay || Balancing Nuclear Reaction

Añadido: 2026-05-21

[00:00:01]How many beta particle or particles are emitted in the decay below?

[00:00:08]So, this reaction is representing a radioactive decay.

[00:00:14]And we're asked to find how many beta particles are involved. So, for us to do that, we add the beta particle.

[00:00:23]Don't forget beta particle can be represented as e for electron.

[00:00:28]And then we have minus one as the charge and zero as the mass.

[00:00:37]So, this is beta particle. Now, for us to know if we require one, two, three, or whatever number, we have to see if we have to add a number by the side here to balance the equation. First of all, let's see if it is balanced. If it's balanced, that means it needs one. If it's not balanced, then we can add two.

[00:00:57]If it's not balanced, we can add three and so on to get the number of beta particles. So, the total atomic number here is 79.

[00:01:06]And the total mass number here is 198.

[00:01:09]So, if you check on this side, too, total atomic number, this is 80 and this is minus one. So, 80 minus one is 79.

[00:01:18]That makes it balanced like this side.

[00:01:20]So, this is 79 and the whole of this side total 79. So, atomic number is balanced. Then this is 198 and then this is 198 plus zero remains 198. So, atomic number is balanced on both sides and the mass is balanced on both sides. So, that means we need only one beta particle, and that is the final answer. Hope you enjoyed the video. Please don't forget to like, share, and join for more videos like this. Thank you for watching.