Question

Fluorine-18 is produced by reacting oxygen-18 with a proton, 11p. The products of this reaction are fluorine-18, a neutron, and a gamma ray. Write a nuclear equation for the production of fluorine-18.

Answer 1

₈O¹⁸ + ₁¹H(proton) ⇒ ₉F¹⁸ + ₀n¹(neutron) + ₀γ⁰ (gamma)

Further explanation

Given

Fluorine-18

Oxygen-18

Required

Nuclear equation

Solution

Radioactivity is the process of unstable isotopes to stable isotopes by decay, by emitting certain particles,  

• alpha α particles ₂He⁴
• beta β ₋₁e⁰ particles
• gamma particles ₀γ⁰
• positron particles ₁e⁰
• neutron ₀n¹

The principle used is the sum of the atomic number and mass number before and after the decay reaction is the same

The reaction

₈O¹⁸ + ₁¹H(proton) ⇒ ₉F¹⁸ + ₀n¹(neutron) + ₀γ⁰ (gamma)