Beta particle

A beta particle is a high-speed electron or positron emitted from an atomic nucleus during beta decay. Its emission changes the nucleus’s proton-neutron balance without changing its mass number.

Beta-minus decay: A radioactive decay in which a neutron becomes a proton, emitting an electron and an electron antineutrino. It produces the electron form of the beta particle.
Beta spectroscopy: The measurement and analysis of energy distributions or other properties of beta radiation. It uses beta-particle spectra to investigate radioactive decays.
Alpha particle: A helium-4 nucleus consisting of two protons and two neutrons, emitted in some radioactive decays. It is heavier and more strongly ionizing, but less penetrating, than a beta particle.
Isotope: One of several nuclides with the same number of protons but different numbers of neutrons. Beta decay moves a nucleus between isotopes of neighboring elements.
Beta-plus decay: A radioactive decay in which a proton becomes a neutron, emitting a positron and an electron neutrino. It produces the positron form of the beta particle.
Geiger counter: A gas-filled detector that registers ionizing radiation as electrical pulses. It can detect beta particles entering its sensitive volume.
Gamma ray: A high-energy photon emitted by atomic nuclei or other energetic processes. Unlike beta particles, gamma rays have no electric charge or rest mass.
Ionizing radiation: Radiation energetic enough to remove electrons from atoms or molecules. Beta particles ionize matter as they travel through it.
Electron antineutrino: A nearly massless neutral lepton emitted with an electron in beta-minus decay. It carries away part of the decay’s energy and momentum.
Scintillation counter: A radiation detector that converts deposited energy into flashes of light and then electrical signals. It measures beta particles through the light they produce in a scintillator.

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