By Team Aakash Byju's

3 Major Forms of Radioactivity in Chemistry

– Alpha decay – Beta decay  – Gamma decay

Alpha decay is the radioactivity in which an -particle is emitted such that the atomic number decreases by two and the mass number decreases by four.

Generally, an alpha particle is a nucleus of helium. i.e.,

Beta-decay is the type where a neutron is transformed into a proton or vice versa inside the nucleus of the radioactive sample.

When a radioactive sample undergoes Gamma decay, no particles are ejected from the nucleus instead a high-energy form of a photon is released.

Gamma decay usually takes place when a nucleus is in an excited state and has excess energy to be stable.