- Gamma decay is a type of radioactive decay where an atomic nucleus in an excited state emits a gamma ray photon. - A gamma ray is high-energy electromagnetic radiation and has no mass or charge. - The emission of a gamma ray allows the nucleus to transition from a higher energy level to a lower energy level. - Since no particles (protons or neutrons) are emitted or transformed, the number of protons (atomic number, Z) and the total number of nucleons (mass number, A) in the nucleus remains unchanged. - Alpha decay decreases A by 4 and Z by 2. Beta decay increases Z by 1 (β⁻ decay) or decreases Z by 1 (β⁺ decay) while A remains unchanged.
In the gamma decay of a nucleus
Asked in UPSC CDS 2 2016 · Topic: Nuclear Physics (Radioactivity: Alpha, Beta (Fermi theory, selection rules, parity violation), Gamma decay (multipole transitions, internal conversion).)
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Answer: D. neither the mass number nor the atomic number of the nucleus changes
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