Beta (\(\beta^-\)) decay is the release of an electron by the change of a neutron to a proton. The neutron (charge = 0) is made up of one up quark (charge = \(\frac{2}{3}\)) and two down quarks ...

After emitting an alpha or beta particle, the nucleus will often ... atomic number and mass number remain the same. All types of radioactive decay can be detected by a Geiger-Muller tube, or ...