Question

Uranium-238 decays by alpha emission. what is the mass number of the resulting element? express your answer numerically as an integer.

Answer 1

Answer is: mass number of element is 234.
Alpha particle is nucleus of a helium-4 atom, which is made of two protons and two neutrons.
²³⁸U → ²³⁴Th + α (alpha particle).
Alpha decay is radioactive decay in which an atomic nucleus emits an alpha particle (helium nucleus) and transforms into an atom with an atomic number that is reduced by two and mass number that is reduced by four.