Nuclear Chemistry vocabulary

6. electromagnetic waves with the highest energy; produced by supernovas, the destruction of atoms, or the decay of radioactive material
7. the splitting of a nucleus into smaller fragments that results in the release of neutrons and a large amount of energy
9. the type of radioactive decay which the neutron-to-proton ratio is too great in the nucleus and causes instability, resulting in a neutron being transformed into a proton and an electron
11. radioactive decay in which an atomic nucleus emits an alpha particle, reducing the mass number by 4 and the atomic number by 2
12. an interaction between two nuclei or between an atomic nucleus and a subatomic particles that results in a change in the properties of the interaction particles.

1. the spontaneous emission of radiation by an unstable nucleus
2. a reaction in which two light nuclei combine to produce a nucleus of heavier mass, resulting in the release of a large amount of energy
3. a positively charged particle, consisting of two protons and two neutrons bound together, that is spontaneously emitted from the nucleus of some radioactive atoms
4. a negatively charged electron emitted from the radioactive decay of a nucleus
5. an elementary particle that is the smallest possible amount of light and all other forms of electromagnetic radiation that can interact with anything
8. the type of radioactive decay in which the nucleus of an atom is at too high an energy, resulting in a reduction of energy state and the emission of a high-energy photon
10. an equation that shows how a nucleus gains or loses subatomic particles