High School

We will be generating the metastable isotope of Barium-137 from Cesium-137.

a) What is the chemical equation for the decay of Cesium-137 into metastable Barium-137?

b) What is the chemical equation for the decay of metastable Barium-137 into Barium-137?

Answer :

Cesium-137 decays into meta-stable Barium-137 through a process known as beta decay, represented by the equation 13755Cs → 13756Bam + β⁻. Meta-stable Barium-137 then decays into Barium-137 via gamma decay, with the equation 13756Bam → 13756Ba + γ.

The decay of Cesium-137 to meta-stable Barium-137 and then to Barium-137 involves a sequence of radioactive decays. Cs-137 undergoes beta decay to form a metastable isotope of Barium-137 (denoted as Ba-137m) with the release of a beta particle (an electron).

This can be represented by the chemical equation 13755Cs → 13756Bam + β⁻. Meta-stable Barium-137 then decays to Barium-137 by simple gamma decay, which emits only a gamma particle (a type of high-energy photon) and does not change the atomic number or the atomic mass, represented by the chemical equation 13756Bam → 13756Ba + γ.

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