Alpha decay

1. Show that 232Th can reduce its energy by spontaneously emitting an α

particle, but cannot reduce its energy by spontaneously emitting a
proton.

2. In the decay 228Th → 224Ra + 4He, the highest energy α particle has an
energy 5.423 MeV and the next highest energy is 5.341 MeV.
(Krane 8-17)
(a) The highest energy decay populates the 224Ra ground state. Why is it
natural to expect this to be so?
(b) Compute the Q value for the decay from the measured α energy.
(c) Compute the energy of the first excited state of 224Ra

3. Explain the following in terms of α-decay theory and any other

concepts that may be required. (Harvey 7-9)
(a) 226
Th and Rn have the same α-decay energy, but the half-life of
220
220
Rn is 1 min and that of 226Th is 31 min.
(b) 235U and have 236U have nearly the same α-decay energy, but the
half-life of 235U is 7×108 y and that of 236U is only 2×107 y.
(c) In the heavy element region, α-particle energies are not found below
4 MeV, whereas in the rare earth region, they may be as low as 1.83
MeV.