Nuclear Particles and Symbols

While all particles produced by the decay of an atomic nucleus have the energy to penetrate substances, some particles have much more energy than others.

K-capture occurs when an atomic nucleus captures an electron from its own innermost energy level. When this happens, the atomic number is decreased by one, but the mass number remains the same.

In an equation, K-capture looks like this:

100   44

Ru   +

0 −1

e   →

100   43

Tc

Balancing Nuclear Equations

Nuclear Equations