Chronicles of Antimatter: The Antimatter Factory In Your Home…(Part 2)
(Beta +) & (Beta -) Decay of K-40 in The Human Body
Preface
Hello, reader! Before you continue reading this article, let me ask you a question. Just from reading the title, do you look like this?
If you are, don’t worry! You can check out my previous article on The Standard Model of Particle Physics to understand what we will talk about in this article. You can find the link here.
In my previous article, I talked about a potential substance emitting anti-matter in your home… and it’s true! There are substances in your home that do emit anti-matter!
But first…
Quiz Time!
What substances in your home emit radiation?
- A) A Human Being
- B) Books
- C) Banana
- D) All of the above
- E) A & C Only
- F) None of the above
What do you think is the right answer? Let me know by commenting on this article.
P.S. You will find out as you read the article!
P.P.S. The answer will annihilate your mind! 😉
While you decide on an answer, I will talk about the-
Carlos, will you discuss how (Beta +) and (Beta -) Decay affect this “antimatter factory” you are talking about?
You read my mind, dear reader! Let’s talk about the antimatter factory in your home! ⚛
Potassium (K)
Potassium Isotopes
Potassium is the 19th element in The Periodic Table of Elements. It has an Atomic Number of 19, which means it has 19 protons inside of its nucleus. It has a Mass Number of 39, which means it adds both protons and neutrons to the nucleus. So for a Mass Number in Potassium, there are 19 protons and 20 neutrons.
However, Potassium has more than one “copy” of itself, there are isotopes of Potassium. Isotopes of an element contain the same number of protons but a different amount of neutrons. In Potassium, there are 3 main isotopes:
- Potassium-39- 93.2581% abundance, stable isotope
- Potassium-41- 6.7302% abundance, stable isotope
- Potassium-40- 0.0117% abundance, radioactive isotope
Oh, so that’s where Potassium-40 comes from! But I still don’t understand how the decaying occurs and what comes out of the decaying process!
Whoever you are, you must be hungry for knowledge! I must learn how to write faster!
Potassium-40 (K-40)
K-40 is a radioactive isotope of the element Potassium (K). K-40 live a half-life of 1.28 x 10^9 years (1,280,000,000 years)! A half-life is essentially the time it takes to reduce the number of isotopes in a sample by 1/2. For a radioactive isotope, that is very long for the element to decay completely!
But there is more to the half-life! After each half-life, at least half of the radioactive atoms to decay into atoms of a new element!
Carlos, so that means…
K-40 decays into other isotopes of elements!
But how, Carlos?
Beta Decay/Radiation
Overview
Beta Decay occurs when atoms are unstable, or “unhappy”. For an atom that undergoes Beta Decay, they contain too many neutrons inside their nucleus and not enough protons. This when Beta Decay/Radiation comes into play.
Beta Decay/Radiation occurs when an atomic nucleus transforms a neutron into a proton and an electron. During the transformation, it will release the electron from the atom. Beta Decay can also be referred to as Electron Radiation, but unfortunately, that is not the technical term for beta radiation (but it should be!).
Normally, unstable atoms decay into 1 new atom. However, K-40 can decay into two different elements, Argon-40 or Calcium-40! K-40 can turn into the stable Calcium-40 isotope 89.28% of the time, while K-40 can turn into the stable Argon-40 isotope 10.72% of the time.
Carlos, but how does K-40 decide which element to turn itself into? Does it use magic?
I wish, but no, it doesn’t use magic.
K-40 is one of the rare isotopes of any element that can go through both types of Beta Decay, (Beta +) Decay, and (Beta -) Decay.
(Beta -) Decay
So what is (Beta -) Decay? It allows K-40 to decay into the element Calcium-40 or Ca-40. In (Beta -) Decay, a neutron transforms into a proton, so the atomic number of the nucleus has gone up by +1! However, during the transformation of a neutron into a proton, an electron and an anti-neutrino breathe into existence! Antimatter appeared during the decay process!
But Carlos, why is it called (Beta -) Decay?
The electron and the antineutrino are emitted during (Beta -) Decay but in the usual Beta Decay, only the electron is emitted. An electron has a charge of -1, which is where the (-) comes from in (Beta -) Decay.
(Beta +) Decay
So what is (Beta +) Decay? It allows K-40 to decay into the element Argon-40 or Ar-40. In (Beta +) Decay, a proton transforms into a neutron, so the atomic number of the nucleus has gone down by -1! However, during the transformation of a proton into a neutron, a neutrino, and a positron breathe into existence! Antimatter appeared during the decay process!
But Carlos, why is it called (Beta +) Decay?
The neutrino and the positron are emitted during (Beta +) Decay but in the usual Beta Decay, only the electron is emitted. However, a positron has a charge of +1, which is where the (+) comes from in (Beta +) Decay.
Reveal Time!
Carlos, when will you reveal the answers to the question!?
Okay, okay! I hope you tried answering it! Now for the big moment! Time to reveal the answers to the question I mentioned in the beginning!
Yes! Finally! I know I am going to get it right!
The answer is…
