How Does Spontaneous Decay Relate to Newton's First Law?

[logearav]

Homework Statement

Newton's first law of motion deals with inertia of bodies. According to this law, " Every body continues in its state of rest or of uniform motion in straight line, unless compelled by an external force."

Homework Equations

The Attempt at a Solution

My question is , " How spontaneous decay occurs in heavy elements resulting in alpha, decay and gamma emission, without any external force acting on it"?

 

[Andrew Mason]

The first law says that a body continues in its state of motion unless acted on by a force. In this case, there are two bodies: the particle and the body that the particle was previously attached to. There are forces that arise when a decay event occurs. The forces cause the particle to fly away at great speed and the body to which it was previously attached recoil.

AM