Nuclear Reactions

A nuclide, A, bombarded by subatomic particles, a, changes to another nuclide B with the release of particle b is called a nuclear reaction. The reaction can be represented by

A + a = B + b

or

A (a, b) B

A decay process is a nuclear reaction with no incidant particle, and it can be represented by

A ( , b) B

When the reactants contain more energy or mass than the products, the reaction releases energy and the reaction is exothermic. Considering only the particles, the reaction may require energy, and the reaction is endothermic