Alpha radiation

[tandoorichicken]

Whats the energy released when an alpha particle is emitted, say for example, from Am-241 -> He-4 + Np-237 ?

Is it the same for all decay reactions?

[faust9]

No, the same amount of energy is not released for all alpha decays or all decays for that matter. Have you heard of binding energy or mass defect? Look at the mass of Americium-241 (http://www2.bnl.gov/CoN/nuc/A/Am241.shtml) and compare that to the combined mass of Neptunium-237 (http://www2.bnl.gov/CoN/nuc/N/Np237.shtml) and Helium-4 (http://www2.bnl.gov/CoN/nuc/H/He4.shtml)

Its been a couple of years since I last made big atoms into small atoms with a few neutrons to boot, but the above should still hold true.