Nevermore Posted June 10, 2006 Share Posted June 10, 2006 Another thread mentioned that cobalt in a magnetic field beta decays. What does it decay into? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swansont Posted June 10, 2006 Share Posted June 10, 2006 Depends on which isotope you have. Co-59 is the only stable isotope. Co isotopes that have fewer neutrons tend to undergo electron capture to an isotope of Fe (I didn't check all of the possibilities; some of the isotopes could possibly beta-plus decay instead of electron capture, but the ones I looked at were all EC), while those with more neutrons will beta-minus decay to Ni. (The magnetic field has nothing to do with inducing the decay, only the spin alignment of the electron that is emitted. Co in no magnetic field will still decay) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nevermore Posted June 10, 2006 Author Share Posted June 10, 2006 Okay, thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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