(a) What is nuclear energy?
(b) After emission of a nuclear radiation, the atomic number of the daughter nucleus increases by 1. Identify the nuclear radiation.
(c) Write a nuclear reaction indicating the nuclear change mentioned in (b).
(d) What is the special name given to the parent and daughter nucleus when this radiation is emitted?
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(a) Nuclear energy arises from radioactive processes like decay, fission, or fusion. During these changes, the combined mass of product nuclei becomes less than that of the reactant nuclei, resulting in a mass loss. This mass loss leads to liberation of energy which is known as nuclear energy.
(b) β-radiation.
(c) The nuclear reaction for β-radiation is given below:
$$\begin{matrix} _{Z}^{A}\text{P} & \longrightarrow & _{Z+1}^{\space \space \space \space \space A}\text{Q} & + & \space _{-1}^{\space \space \space 0}\text{e} \\ \footnotesize{\text{Parent nucleus}} & & \footnotesize{\text{Daughter nucleus}} & & \footnotesize{\text{(Beta-particle)}} \end{matrix}$$
(d) Isobars.