Specific nuclear chemistry topic in TPR: alpha bombardment

[kristinaeatscows]

I was doing the practice questions in my TPR books and I ran across an infuriating question asking what you get when you bombard plutonium-239 with an alpha particle. I JUST read the chapter on nuclear chemistry and knew an alpha particle is effectively a helium nucleus. When you have alpha decay and you LOSE an alpha particle, you lose 4 from the mass number and 2 from the atomic number. Therefore, if you ADD a helium nucleus to Pu-239 you should get Cm-243. Because an alpha particle adds 4 to the mass number and 2 to the atomic number, and 239+4 = 243. Right? Math. It works.

Except when it doesn't. In the answer key, the balanced equation was Pu-239 + alpha particle --> Cm-242 plus a neutron. WTH?!

So here's my questions:
Where is this neutron coming from?
Does ALL bombardment release neutrons as by-products?
How was I supposed to know the neutron was going to fly off if it wasn't addressed in the chapter?! (This is a rhetorical question, I'm just mad because I feel like I was booby-trapped into choosing the wrong answer).

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[Cawolf]

I am no chemistry expert, but it seems like each bombardment can produce a different result in different elements. Are you sure that you couldn't eliminate the other choices or get more information from the passages?

If you were expected to know something like that I would be surprised.

Can you post the whole passage?

 

[Cawolf]

To answer your question though, neutrons are often released in nuclear reactions as the new isotope forms at the lowest energy level.