Question about Alpha Particles

[Rushnrhcp]

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Quick questions about alpha particles. I've checked to see if there are other posts about this, but couldn't find one. Sorry if it's a little out of the scope of the MCAT but I'm curious and its bothering me.

So when alpha particles are released, the original element loses two protons and two neutrons. I know the alpha particle doesn't have any electrons. What I'm curious about is that in all the books/notes/everything I have, I can't find any evidence that says the original element becomes charged. When you think about it though, wouldn't it become a cation, seeing as it gives off two protons without changing the number of electrons?

Just food for thought. It's been on my mind, so maybe somebody out there is smarter than I am and can explain why it wouldn't.

 

[MolonLabe16]

I found some pretty good explanations on this website --> http://scienceline.ucsb.edu/getkey.php?key=215

Pretty much says that nuclear reactions give little attention to oxidation states because they have little effect on nuclear behavior.

Your question made me think, so I dug a little around online 🙂

Hope this helped

 

[jordansnfootbal]

When anything says protons are lost then you assume the same amount of electrons are lost too probably due to electrostatic forces....so I believe 2 protons/electrons are lost in an alpha particle emission as well as 2 neutrons

 

[TheMightyTexan]

Molon is correct, in TBR at the bottom of page 119-200 it very briefly mentions ion formation being ignored, and then at the end of the second paragraph the author puts his 2 cents in on nuclear chemistry. It appears as though the MCAT is only concerned with the basics of this topic, which is definitely a good thing.

 

[iforget2]

The Physics Self-Assessment had a question about this actually. It looks like for the mcat you need to know that an alpha particle has a +2 charge on it, while beta particles have a negative charge.

 

[smpbound]

The Physics Self-Assessment had a question about this actually. It looks like for the mcat you need to know that an alpha particle has a +2 charge on it, while beta particles have a negative charge.

You're going to get into a lot of trouble with nuclear physics questions if you think like that. You are on burn notice.

 

[iforget2]

You're going to get into a lot of trouble with nuclear physics questions if you think like that. You are on burn notice.

Elaborate plz

 

[smpbound]

Beta particles can be an electron or a positron. And alpha particles aren't really identified as being an ion unless so stated in the problem. The above posters are correct on this. Your physics lesson of the day.

 

[iforget2]

Beta particles can be an electron or a positron. And alpha particles aren't really identified as being an ion unless so stated in the problem. The above posters are correct on this. Your physics lesson of the day.

I definitely should have been more specific about the problem in the physics SA that I mentioned. Not doing so probably lead to some misinformation, so I apologize. I'm paraphrasing, but the question went something like "Which of the following describes the direction of a gamma, alpha, and beta ray in the presence of an external field?" Gamma particles have no charge, so it would go straight. Alpha and beta particles have opposite charges so they would bend in opposite dirctions. Although what you said is correct regarding how beta particles can be an electron or a positron, when a passage only states "beta decay" and nothing more specific, then it's safe to assume that they are talking about a beta particle being an electron.