is alpha emission the same as alpha decay
Alpha decay Alpha decay or α-decay is a type of radioactive decay in which an atomic nucleus emits an alpha particle (helium nucleus) and thereby transforms or 'decays' into an atom with a mass number that is reduced by four and an atomic number that is reduced by two. An alpha particle is identical to the nucleus of a helium-4 atom, which consists of two protons and two neutrons. It has a charge of +2e and a mass of 4u. For example, uranium-238 decays to form thorium-234. Alpha particles have a charge +2, but as a nuclear equation describes a nuclear reaction without considering the electrons – a convention that does not imply that the nuclei necessarily occur in neutral atoms – the charge is not usually shown.
Isotopes of boron Boron (5B) naturally occurs as isotopes 10and 11B, the latter of which makes up about 80% of natural boron. There are 14 radioisotopes that have been discovered, with mass numbers from 6 to 21, all with short half-lives, the longest being that of 8B, with a half-life of only 770 milliseconds (ms) and 12B with a half-life of 20.2 ms. All other isotopes have half-lives shorter than 17.35 ms, with the least stable isotope being 7B, with a half-life of 150 yoctoseconds (ys). Those isotopes with mass below 10 decay into helium (via short-lived isotopes of beryllium for 7B and 9B) while those with mass above 11 mostly become carbon.