The radioactive atom #""_84^210 "Po"# decays by alpha emission. How would you write an equation showing the decay?

1 Answer
Dec 2, 2016

#""_84^210"Po"rarr""_82^206"Pb"+alpha# or #""_84^210"Po"rarr""_82^206"Pb"+""_2^4"He"#

Explanation:

Alpha emission is when a radioactive sample decays by emitting a helium nucleus. The sample thus decays into an atom with whose mass is four #"g"# #"mol"^(-1)# less and whose atomic number is two less.