The nuclear reaction
Sn �¨ Sb + ?
is an example of
Sn ==> Sb + beta
The nuclear reaction you provided is an example of nuclear decay, specifically beta decay. In beta decay, a neutron in the nucleus transforms into a proton, resulting in the emission of a beta particle (either an electron or a positron) and an antineutrino or neutrino.
In the case of the reaction Sn -> Sb + ?, a neutron in the nucleus of the element Sn (tin) undergoes beta decay. The result of this reaction is the formation of the element Sb (antimony) and the emission of a beta particle. The "?" represents the emitted beta particle.
nuclear transmutation. In this reaction, a tin atom (Sn) is undergoing a nuclear change and transforming into an antimony atom (Sb). The question mark represents the missing particle or particle(s) involved in the reaction.
To identify the missing particle, we need to consider the conservation laws in nuclear reactions, which are the conservation of mass number and the conservation of atomic number.
The mass number, also known as nucleon number, refers to the total number of protons and neutrons in the nucleus of an atom. The atomic number, on the other hand, corresponds to the number of protons in the nucleus.
In this nuclear reaction, we start with an atom of tin (Sn). Tin has an atomic number of 50 and a mass number of around 118. Since antimony (Sb) is the product of the reaction, we know that the atomic number of antimony is 51 since it is one unit higher than tin.
To conserve the mass number, we need to find a particle that accounts for the change in atomic number while maintaining the total number of nucleons. In this case, one neutron is transformed into a proton to increase the atomic number by one. Thus, the missing particle in the reaction is a positron (β+). A positron is a positively charged electron.
The complete nuclear reaction is:
Sn → Sb + β+ (positron)
So, the given nuclear reaction Sn → Sb + ? is an example of nuclear transmutation, where a tin atom undergoes a nuclear change and transforms into an antimony atom while emitting a positron.