The emission of radiation from unstable nuclei can lead to various physical phenomena, which can be quantified using fundamental physical principles. One common type of radiation is alpha decay, wherein an unstable atom emits an alpha particle, consisting of two protons and two neutrons. This process reduces the mass number of the original atom by four and the atomic number by two. Consider the following scenario: An unstable isotope, Uranium-238 (U-238), undergoes alpha decay to transform into Thorium-234 (Th-234). Analyze the energy changes involved in this decay process, particularly focusing on the kinetic energy distributed to the emitted alpha particle.
Using the conservation of momentum and energy; if a U-238 nucleus initially at rest emits an alpha particle with a mass of 4 u (atomic mass units) and the remaining Thorium-234 nucleus has a mass of 234 u, how would the relative kinetic energies of the alpha particle and the Th-234 nucleus compare post-decay?