Which of the following will occur during the gamma decay of an atom of technetium-99m?The nucleus will emit a high-energy photon.The number of protons and neutrons in the nucleus will be unchanged.The atom will be converted into an isotope of a different element.

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11ecba2d_123a_2deb_a3bf_d7e05ca467d2_MD0008_00 Radioactivity is the spontaneous emission of radiation (photons or particles) from an unstable atomic nucleus. Emitting radiation allows an unstable nucleus to achieve a more stable (lower energy) configuration (often by fragmenting into a smaller nucleus). Although several types of nuclear radiation exist, the three most common types are alpha decay, beta decay, and gamma emission. During gamma emission, an unstable nucleus in an excited state releases excess energy by emitting a gamma ray, which is a high-energy photon (an electromagnetic wave packet) and often represented in nuclear reactions using the symbols 11ecba2d_123a_2dec_a3bf_b3cf0fba4d5a_MD0008_00 or 11ecba2d_123a_2ded_a3bf_03798c64a1e9_MD0008_00 . Some radionuclides exist in a metastable state that is particularly prone to gamma emission. Such nuclei are labeled with the letter m beside the mass number within the nuclear notation. One characteristic of gamma emission is that no particle is emitted from the nucleus, which causes the number of protons and neutrons in the nucleus to remain unchanged. As a result, the elemental identity of a nucleus is unchanged following gamma emission. Therefore, during the gamma decay of an atom of technetium-99m, the nucleus emits a high-energy photon (Number I), but the number of protons and neutrons in the nucleus remains unchanged (Number II). (Number III) Because the number of protons in the nucleus is unchanged, the atom will not be converted into an isotope of a different element. Educational objective: Radioactivity is the spontaneous emission of radiation (photons or particles) from an unstable atomic nucleus via common decay processes such as alpha decay, beta decay, and gamma emission. During gamma emission, a high-energy photon is released from a nucleus in an excited state without the release of a particle, which causes the elemental identity of the nucleus to remain unchanged.

Which of the Following Will Occur During the Gamma Decay