Question

Write the identity of the missing particle for the following nuclear decay reaction:

\rm ^{49}_{25}Mn \rightarrow {^{49}_{24}Cr}\;+\; ?

Answer 1

I assume this means...\[^{49}_{25}Mn \rightarrow ^{49}_{24}Cr\]It looks like this is a positron emission process, and therefore to make everything balance out, we need to throw a positron on the right side...\[^{49}_{25}Mn \rightarrow ^{49}_{24}Cr + ^0_{1}e\]Notice how this makes the top numbers on the right add up to the top number on the left, and the bottom numbers on the right add up to the bottom number on the left. This is a way to check yourself.