Emission Question

[victorias]

---

Members do not see this ad.

I see the logic they are using in the solution but I thought the question was asking for a "particle" travelling a long distance and I crossed out gamma emission thinking it is only energy and not related to the travel of particles.

Here is my reasoning:

A. Alpha = too large and heavy
B. Beta (assuming beta negative) = small, can travel - plausible answer
C. positron = involves capturing particles
D. gamma = only energy, not particles

Can someone clarify this?

 

[theonlytycrane]

Gamma emission releases high energy photons, which is a discrete particle-like thing.

 

[aldol16]

You're forgetting about particle-wave duality. That's the beauty of light. It's both a particle and a wave. Just because it has no mass doesn't mean it can't be a particle.