Michael is studying nuclear physics and he came across the term gamme decay He asked Priya why does gamma decay occur? The proton to neutron ratio is unstable None of these The nucleus is in an excited tate. This usually follows other types of decay. d The nucleus is too large to be stable

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Michael is studying nuclear physics and he came across the term gamme decay He asked Priya why does gamma decay occur? The proton to neutron ratio is unstable None of these The nucleus is in an excited tate. This usually follows other types of decay. d The nucleus is too large to be stable

Answer 1

c. The nucleus is in an excited state. This usually follows other types of decay.

Answer 2

## Step1 Gamma decay is a type of radioactive decay that occurs in atomic nuclei. When an atomic nucleus is in an excited state, it can return to its ground state (lower energy state) by emitting a gamma ray, which is a high-energy photon. This process does not involve a change in the number of protons or neutrons within the nucleus, unlike other forms of radioactive decay such as alpha or beta decay. ## Step2 Option a, "The proton to neutron ratio is unstable," is more relevant to beta decay, where either a neutron is converted into a proton (beta-plus decay) or a proton is converted into a neutron (beta-minus decay), thus altering the proton-to-neutron ratio. ## Step3 Option b, "None of these," is incorrect because one of the listed options does accurately describe gamma decay. ## Step4 Option c, "The nucleus is in an excited state. This usually follows other types of decay," is correct. Gamma decay often occurs after alpha or beta decay, where the daughter nucleus is left in an excited state and subsequently emits a gamma ray to shed excess energy and reach a stable state. ## Step5 Option d, "The nucleus is too large to be stable," describes the cause of alpha decay, where a nucleus emits an alpha particle (consisting of two protons and two neutrons) to reduce its size and increase stability.

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Michael is studying nuclear physics and he came across the term gamme decay He asked Priya why does gamma decay occur? The proton to neutron ratio is unstable None of these The nucleus is in an excited tate. This usually follows other types of decay. d The nucleus is too large to be stable

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