Question

For the (positron) emission from a nucleus, there is another competing process known as electron capture (electron from an inner orbit, say, the K−shell, is captured by the nucleus and a neutrino is emitted).

Show that if emission is energetically allowed, electron capture is necessarily allowed but not vice−versa.

Answer 1

Let the amount of energy released during the electron capture process be Q₁. The nuclear reaction can be written as:

Let the amount of energy released during the positron capture process be Q₂. The nuclear reaction can be written as:

= Nuclear mass of

= Nuclear mass of

= Atomic mass of

= Atomic mass of

m_e = Mass of an electron

c = Speed of light

Q-value of the electron capture reaction is given as:

Q-value of the positron capture reaction is given as:

It can be inferred that if Q₂ > 0, then Q₁ > 0; Also, if Q₁> 0, it does not necessarily mean that Q₂ > 0.

In other words, this means that ifemission is energetically allowed, then the electron capture process is necessarily allowed, but not vice-versa. This is because the Q-value must be positive for an energetically-allowed nuclear reaction.