Energy release from beta plus decay

[joeshmo]

1. Astatine-210 decays through a beta-plus decay process. Use the table in section 29-8 (see the link above) to find the relevant masses for this decay, and calculate the energy (in MeV) released by the decay of one such atom. You can neglect the mass of the neutrino that is one of the decay products.


2.

The Attempt at a Solution

i tried subtracting the mass of polonium from the mass of astatine and then multiplying it by by 931.5 but i keep getting it wrong

 

[Gregor97]

I know this question is old but I thought I should post anyway. I believe astatine-210 decays into polonium-210 with a single negative charge. You also have to account for the mass of the positron. I'm not sure if this is correct, I've been looking for how to find energy from beta plus decay aswell

 

[BvU]

Well, what's the relevant information in the table in section 29-8 ?
From what I can find (and also here) the decay is through electron capture.

 

[TSny]

For β⁺ you need to be careful with handling the electron masses. See
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beta_decay#.CE.B2.2B_decay_2