Question

State giving reasons, whether the following nuclear mutation is possible or not. (Star indicates an excited state)

\({ }_{\mathrm{Z}} \mathrm{X}^{* \mathrm{~A}} \longrightarrow{ }_{\mathrm{Z}} \mathrm{X}^{\mathrm{A}}+\mathrm{Y}\)

Answer 1

This mutation is possible. An excited nucleus comes to its ground state by emitting gamma radiation. Since gamma rays have no mass and no charge, the mass number and atomic number remain unchanged. Here, Y is a gamma ray (γ).