Alpha decay | Physics | Khan Academy

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During alpha decay, a large, unstable parent nucleus becomes a smaller daughter nucleus. It does this by emitting an alpha particle, a clump of two protons and two neutrons (a He-4 nucleus). The nucleus's atomic number decreases by two, and its mass number decreases by four. The alpha particle is high-energy ionizing radiation—it travels at high speed because it carries away the majority of the energy lost by the nucleus during the decay.

Sections:
00:00 - Intro
00:43 - Why are heavy nuclei unstable?
03:50 - What is alpha decay?
05:44 - Alpha decay examples
08:31 - How smoke detectors work

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