The product of a decay is 172 Ta. The nuclide that underwent decay is:

Question

The product of a  decay is 172 Ta. The nuclide that underwent decay is:

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The nuclide symbol for 172 Ta is ¹⁷²Ta. From this symbol we can see that the parent nuclide underwent alpha decay, which means it lost an alpha particle (consisting of 2 protons and 2 neutrons) from its nucleus. Looking at the possible answer choices, only C (¹⁷⁶W) has a parent nuclide with an atomic number (76) that is 2 less than the atomic number of 172 Ta (74) and a mass number (176) that is 4 greater than the mass number of 172 Ta (172). This indicates that the parent nuclide underwent alpha decay to produce 172 Ta.

The Product of a Decay Is 172 Ta