Write a nuclear equation for the indicated decay of each nuclide.

d. O-15 (positron emission)

Video transcript

Hello, everyone. Today, we have the following problem. Write the complete nuclear equation for the positron emission reaction of magnesium. So in positron emission, there is an unstable nucleus that will emit a positron and a positron is essentially an antiparticle of an electron. It has the same mass as an electron, just the opposite charge. And so in the case of magnesium, if we were to draw its correct isotope notation, we would have its element symbol which is the MG and then we will have the mass number which is 22 at the top left. And then we would have the atomic number, which if we were to refer to the periodic table is 12 at the bottom left. And then to show this process, we would draw our reaction arrow. We would have our notation for our elec or positron which has a positive one mass or positive one electric charge. And then we have to ask ourselves, what could we add or subtract two positive one to get to the 12. And so we could do 11 at the bottom left, the atomic number and the mass didn't change. So it would stay as 22. And referring to the periodic table, the element with an atomic number of 11 is sodium. And if we look at our answer choices, we can see an answer choice a best reflects this process. And with that, we have solved the problem overall, I hope this helped. And until next time.