Question

Arsenic-74 is a positron emitter used in locating brain tumors write an equation for this nuclear reaction and identify the product

Answer 1

Answer:

$_{33}^{74}\text{As} \longrightarrow _{32}^{74}\text{Ge} + _{1}^{0}\text{e}$

Explanation:

The unbalanced nuclear equation is

$_{33}^{74}\text{As} \longrightarrow ? + _{1}^{0}\text{e}$

It is convenient to replace the question mark by an atomic symbol, $_{x}^{y}\text{Z}$ , where x = the atomic number, y = the mass number, and Z = the symbol of the element .

Then your equation becomes

$_{33}^{74}\text{As} \longrightarrow _{x}^{y}\text{Z} + _{1}^{0}\text{e}$

The main point to remember in balancing nuclear equations is that **the sums of the superscripts and the subscripts must be the same on each side of the equation**.  

Then

74 = x + 0, so x = 74

33 = y + 1, so y = 33 -1 = 32

Element 33 is germanium, so the nuclear equation becomes

$_{33}^{74}\text{As} \longrightarrow _{32}^{74}\text{Ge} + _{1}^{0}\text{e}$