The chlorine nucleus 35 / 17Cl turned into a phosphorus nucleus 31 / 15P. What particle was emitted by the chlorine nucleus?

The chlorine nucleus 35 / 17Cl turned into a phosphorus nucleus 31 / 15P. What particle was emitted by the chlorine nucleus? Write the equation for this radioactive decay.

The first is the mass number A, the second is the charge Z. The chlorine nucleus has A = 35, Z = 17, for phosphorus, respectively, A = 31, Z = 15. To find out which particle was thrown out by the chlorine nucleus, we subtract A from the original and Z are final. We get: A = 35 – 31 = 4, Z = 17 – 15 = 2.

Alpha decay is just characterized by the formation of a particle with A = 4, Z = 2, this is a helium atom 4 / 2He.

Then the equation of radioactive decay:

35 / 17Cl = 31 / 15P + 4 / 2He