Negatrons

Beta particles, [3, come in two forms. A negatron, i[3, is equivalent to an electron, and is produced when a neutron is converted to a proton, increasing the atomic number by 1. 

Beta Particle—An electron that is emitted from the nucleus of an atom during one type of radioactive transformation. A beta particle has a mass and charge equal in magnitude to that of the electron. The charge may be either +1 or -1. Beta particles with +1 charges are called positrons (symbolized (3+), and beta particles with -1 charges are called negatrons (symbolized (3 ). 

This is a process characteristic of nucleides with high n p ratios, and involving the loss of an electron from the nucleus, which is usually, but not invariably accompanied by the emission of y-photons. A detailed energy balance reveals that the simple picture cannot account for all the energy lost by the nucleus in the decay and the emission of an additional particle - the antineutrino, v is postulated to account for this. The general equation for a negatron emission is... 

The exact energy carried by an emitted negatron will depend upon the angle between its path and that of the antineutrino. As the angle can vary from atom to atom, so will the distribution of energy between the particles. Negatron spectra (Figure 10.3) thus do not have sharp peaks. 

The positron has a short life and will quickly be annihilated in a reaction with an electron, producing y-photons of characteristic energy (0.51 MeV). In addition, the basic nuclear process itself is usually accompanied by the emission of y-radiation. As in the case of negatron decay a complete energy... 

Scintillation counters, which constitute an extremely important group, depend upon the absorption of radiation by a scintillator to produce UV light scintillations, which are detected and converted into amplified voltage pulses by a photomultiplier (Figure 10.10). Solid scintillators are used extensively for the detection and analysis ofy-rays and X-rays, while liquid scintillators find widespread employment in the measurement of pure negatron emitters, especially where the particle energy is low (< 1 MeV). 

The resulting radio-silicon decays with a half-life period of two minutes and forty-five seconds, emitting both positrons and negatrons. 

Electron An electron is a negatively charged particle with a diameter of 10 cm. Every atom consists of one nucleus and one or more electrons. Cathode rays and negatrons are electrons. 

BETA DECAY. The process that occurs when beta particles are emitted by radioactive nuclei. The name beta particle or beta radiation was applied in the early years of radioactivity investigations, before it was fully understood what beta particles are. It is known now, of course, that beta particles are electrons. When a radioactive nuclide undergoes beta decay its atomic number Z changes by +1 or —1, but its mass number A is unchanged. When the atomic number is increased by 1, negative beta particle (negatron) emission occurs and when the atomic number is decreased by 1, there is positive beta particle (position) emission or orbital electron capture. 

A negatron emitted during beta decay has its spin aligned away from the direction of its emission (its angular momentum vector is antiparallel to its momentum vector) and hence has a negative helix, but an emitted positron has positive helix. It is because of the absence of beta particles with both positive and negative helix in both types of beta-emission processes that parity is not conserved in beta decay. 

The term antineutrino usually denotes an antiparticle whose emission is postulated to accompany radioactive decay by negatron emission, such as, for example, in neutron decay into a proton p+, negatron e and aiiliiieulnno IT, expressed by the equatiuii n p+ + e + vj. Capture of a neutrino by the neutron, ve + n - p+ + e would be an equally good description of the process. Positron emission is accompanied by a neutrino,... 

In die past the terms neutrino and antineutrino were sometimes used in reverse sense to diat stated above, i.e., the neutrino is said to accompany negatron emission and die antineutnno. positron emission. The preferred usage has been accepted in order to provide conservation of leptons in the... 

Fig. 1, The cncigy regions for wliich negatron emission, positron emission, and orbital eleclron capture are energetically possible...

Sufficient atomic particle research has been accomplished to warrant discussion of possible methods of applying energy available from particle mass annihilation to rocket propulsion. Complete conversion of matter to energy would allow exhaust velocities near that of light to be obtained from a propulsion device. Antimatter, by definition is matter made up of antiparticles, such as antineutrons, negatrons (antiprotons), and positrons (anheledrons). An annihilation property is known to exist between particles with one particle termed the anhparticle of the other. 

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