Jump to content

radio-chemistry question

bob000555
in Inorganic Chemistry

Featured Replies

What happens when an atom in a molecule undergoes radioactive decay? Say for example you have trisodium-22 citrate, and the sodium decays to neon. What are you left with? Neon gas and a citrate radical? Something else?

A neon atom, a more or less free positron and a citrate ion.

The positron is kicked out at a huge energy and will plough through the material bouncing round until it loses most of that energy. Then it will anihilate whatever electron it hits and form a radical ion. If it happened to destroy an electron that was part of a citrate ion it would produce a citrate radical, but it's more likely to make H2O+.

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.

Configure browser push notifications
Chrome (Android)
  1. Tap the lock icon next to the address bar.
  2. Tap Permissions → Notifications.
  3. Adjust your preference.
Chrome (Desktop)
  1. Click the padlock icon in the address bar.
  2. Select Site settings.
  3. Find Notifications and adjust your preference.