Question

What product is created when radium-226 undergoes beta decay?

Answer 1

mass number remains the same but the atomic number increases

Answer 2

when you have to balance a nuclear reaction like this, @abb0t is correct, because the total mass must be conserved, and total atomic number must also be conserved. \[^{226}_{88}Ra \rightarrow ^0_{-1} \beta + ^{226}_{89}X\]See how the atomic number of 88 is equal to (89 + (-1))? and the total mass of all the reactants equals the total mass of all the products?

Nuclear reactions still follow the "normal" rules of conservation, just a little differently than a normal chemical equation