Weak Nuclear Force

Fundamental force which accounts for some particle interactions. The weak nuclear force causes radioactive decayProcess in which an isotope's nucleus changes ('decays') to produce another isotope. The original atom is called the 'parent' and the resulting atom, the 'daughter'. There are three modes of radioactive decay: • Emission of a particle (He nucleus) that decreases the atomic number (Z) by 2 and the atomic Click on Term to Read More, and, in particular, governs β decay whereby a neutronCharge-neutral hadron with a mass of 1.6748 x 10-27 kg, equivalent to 939.573 MeV, and an intrinsic angular momentum, or spin, of ½ (in units of h/2π). The neutron is a nucleon, one of the two basic constituents of all atomic nuclei (apart from 1H, which consists of a single Click on Term to Read More breaks up into a proton, an electron and an antineutrino.