Question

Question #8b941

Answer 1

Think of it this way.

• The bombarding particle hits the target nucleus.
• The two particles temporarily fuse together to form an highly unstable nucleus.
• To become stable, the nucleus emits a neutron or a proton.

We could consider the bombardment of nitrogen by α particles as forming an unstable `[""_9^18"F"]` nucleus (the brackets indicate instability).

`""_2^4"He"` + `""_7^14"N"` → `[""_9^18"F"]`

This nucleus could become stable by emitting a proton.

`[""_9^18"F"]` →`""_8^17"O"` + `""_1^1"H"`

The sum of the two reactions is

`""_2^4"He"` + `""_7^14"N"` → `""_8^17"O"` + `""_1^1"H"`

This is the transmutation of nitrogen to oxygen with the formation of a neutron.

In the same way, we could fire a deuteron at molybdenum and form an unstable `[""_43^98"Tc"]` nucleus.

`""_42^96"Mo"` + `""_1^2"H"` → `[""_43^98"Tc"]`

The unstable `[""_43^98"Tc"]` becomes more stable by emitting a neutron.

`[""_43^98"Tc"]` → `""_43^97"Tc"` + `""_0^1"n"`

The sum of the two reactions is

`""_42^96"Mo"` + `""_1^2"H"` → `""_43^97"Tc"` + `""_0^1"n"`

This is an example of the transmutation Mo-96 to Tc-97 with the formation of a neutron.

Answer 2

This is related to the process of transmutation. I will go over some examples related to beta decay.

In the process of beta minus decay a neutron is converted into a proton.

In the process of beta positive decay a proton becomes converted to a proton.

See discussion of beta minus and beta positive decay here: beta decay

Here is a video which discusses these types of decay:

Hope this helps...
Noel P.