electron capture
Noun
Meaning
English Wikipedia has an article on:electron captureWikipedia
electron capture (plural electron captures)
(physics) A nuclear reaction in which an electron (either free, or from the shell of the atom itself) is absorbed into a nucleus, a proton being converted into a neutron in the process
Synonyms
Examples
All of these decay only through alpha decay and spontaneous fission, with the single exception of seaborgium-261 that can also undergo electron capture to dubnium-261.
Among the 15 known isotopes of mendelevium (mass numbers from 245 to 260), the most studied is 256 Md, which mainly decays through the electron capture (α-radiation is ≈10%) with the half-life of 77 minutes.
Beta decay just changes neutron to proton or, in the case of negative beta decay ( electron capture ) proton to neutron so the number of individual quarks don't change.
Because the binding energy of the electron is much less than the mass of the electron, nuclei that can undergo β + decay can always also undergo electron capture, but the reverse is not true.
Electron capture The analogous calculation for electron capture must take into account the binding energy of the electrons.
Isotopes lighter than the stable lutetium-175 decay via electron capture (to produce isotopes of ytterbium ), with some alpha and positron emission ; the heavier isotopes decay primarily via beta decay, producing hafnium isotopes.