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Alpha, Beta and Gamma Rays

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Abstract

We have learned in the chapter about radioactive decays that not all atomic nuclei are stable. It is sad that certain nuclei can only be kept for a certain amount of time before they decay. A specialty that comes along with decaying nuclei is that they emit radiation. Two things motivate the emission of radiation. One possibility is that the particle content of the nucleus changes and hence the difference between mother and daughter nuclei has to be emitted via radiation. It is also possible that the particle content does not change, but the nucleus re-arranges it in a way that energy is released.

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Correspondence to Boris Lemmer .

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© 2016 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Bahr, B., Lemmer, B., Piccolo, R. (2016). Alpha, Beta and Gamma Rays. In: Quirky Quarks. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-49509-4_41

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-49509-4_41

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-662-49507-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-662-49509-4

  • eBook Packages: Physics and AstronomyPhysics and Astronomy (R0)

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