beta decay

[deescovery8899]

How can you tell if the particle emitted in a beta decay is a positron or an electron?

Thanks.

[admin]

For the MCAT, 99.9% chance that it would be an electron. Either way, however, it's quite easy because you simply replace the particle in the stoichiometric equation with e superscript 0 subscript -1 for an electron or just change to +1 for a positron. Then you just make sure everything adds up:

http://www.colorado.edu/physics/2000/isotopes/radioactive_decay.html

http://education.jlab.org/glossary/betadecay.html

PS no neutrino/antineutrino previous knowledge is required for the new MCAT.