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Decay energy

The decay energy is the energy released by a nuclear decay.

The difference between the mass of the reactants and the mass of products is often written as Q:

Q = (mass of reactants) - (mass of products)

This can be expressed as energy by Albert Einstein's famous formula E=mc².

Decay energy is usually quoted in terms of the energy units MeV (million electronvolts) or KeV (thousand electronvolts).

Types of radioactive decay include

• gamma radiation
• beta decay (decay energy is divided between the emitted electron and the invisible neutrino which is emitted at the same time)
• alpha decay

External links

• University of Waterloo science