Energy Transitions in Beta Decay and Photon Emission

Very Hard Physics Atomic And Nuclear Physics

In a high-energy physics experiment, a sample containing radioactive isotopes of iodine is under investigation. The isotopes undergo beta decay and emit electrons in various energy states. A scientist is interested in the photon emission that occurs after the beta decay and wants to identify the relationship between the emitted electrons and the resultant photons.

If the binding energy of the electrons in the iodine atom is known to be 3.0 MeV, while the ionization energy required to remove an electron from the ground state is 5.0 MeV, which of the following statements best describes the energy transitions during the beta decay process and subsequent photon emission?

The emitted beta electrons will always have a kinetic energy less than the binding energy.

Photons emitted can only have energy equal to the difference between the binding and ionization energies.

Beta decay results in an increase in the binding energy of the remaining electrons.

Photons emitted after decay can have energy values ranging from zero up to the difference between ionization energy and the emitted electron's kinetic energy.

Hint

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