What happens to the mass number of an radioactive isotope during alpha emission?



Answer:
Mass number decreases by four.
Atomic number decreases by two.

An alpha particle is really just a helium nucleus with two protons and two neutrons. So an atomic mass of four is lost while only two protons (the charged particles) are lost.
alpha particle is made up of two protons and two neutrons. as such, the mass number reduces by four but the atomic number only reduces by 2

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