Question

Carbon-14 forms nitrogen-14 by
a. alpha decay.
b. beta decay.
c. gamma decay.
d. none of the above

Answer 1

B. Beta decay

Beta decay occurs when a high-speed electron is lost from the atom, converting one of the atom's neutrons into a proton. The mass number of the atom then remains the same but its atomic number is increased by one.

This is the decay taking place because the transition from carbon-14 to nitrogen-14 involves an increase in atomic number by 1.

Answer 2

Carbon-14 forms nitrogen-14 by $\boxed{{\text{b}}{\text{. beta decay}}}$.

Further Explanation:

Radioactivity is the process by which an unstable atomic nucleus stabilizes itself by releasing energy in the form of different particles such as alpha, beta and gamma particles. This is also known as radioactive disintegration or nuclear decay.

Alpha decay

In this decay, alpha particles are emitted by the unstable nucleus. Alpha particle is a helium nucleus consisting of two protons and two neutrons. It also carries a charge of +2. The chemical equation representing alpha decay is,

 $_{\text{Z}}^{\text{A}}{\text{X}} \to _{{\text{Z - 2}}}^{{\text{A - 4}}}{\text{X}} + _{\text{2}}^{\text{4}}{\text{He}}$

Beta decay

This type of decay is accompanied by the emission of beta particles. The beta decay can be represented by the following chemical equation:

$_{\text{Z}}^{\text{A}}{\text{X}} \to _{{\text{Z + 1}}}^{\text{A}}{\text{X}} + _{{\text{ - 1}}}^{\text{0}}{\text{\beta }}$  

Gamma decay

The emission of gamma rays takes place in this type of radioactive decay. A large amount of energy is emitted during the process but the number of protons remains the same. Gamma decay can be represented by the following chemical equation:

$_{\text{Z}}^{\text{A}}{\text{X}} \to _{\text{Z}}^{\text{A}}{\text{X}} + _{\text{0}}^{\text{0}}{\text{\gamma }}$  

The atomic number of carbon is 6 while that of nitrogen is 7. Since carbon-14 and nitrogen-14 differ from each other in terms of atomic number only and the atomic number or number of protons remains unchanged, the conversion of carbon-14 into nitrogen-14 is possible only in beta decay. The beta decay of carbon-14 can be written as follows:

$_{\text{6}}^{{\text{14}}}{\text{C}} \to _{\text{7}}^{{\text{14}}}{\text{N}} + _{{\text{ - 1}}}^{\text{0}}{\text{\beta }}$  

Learn more:

1. What nuclide will be produced in the given reaction? https://brainly.com/question/3433940
2. Calculate the nuclear binding energy: https://brainly.com/question/5822604

Answer details:

Grade: Senior School

Chapter: Nuclear chemistry

Subject: Chemistry

Keywords: radioactivity, alpha decay, beta decay, gamma decay, carbon-14, nitrogen-14.