What is Beta particle?
{{refimprove|date=September 2016}} '''Beta particles''' are [[electron]]s or [[positron]]s emitted by some [[radioactive]] [[Atomic nucleus|nuclei]] such as [[potassium]]-40 or [[carbon]]-14 (which becomes nitrogen-14).<ref>{{cite web|title=Beta Decay|url=http://www.lbl.gov/abc/wallchart/chapters/03/2.html|work=Nuclear Wall Chart|author=Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory|publisher=[[United States Department of Energy]]|date=9 August 2000|access-date=17 January 2016|archive-date=3 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303195332/http://www2.lbl.gov/abc/wallchart/chapters/03/2.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> The beta particles emitted are a form of [[ionizing radiation]] sometimes called beta rays. [[Henri Becquerel]] and [[Ernest Rutherford]] discovered beta rays in the 1890s. Beta particles are made by [[beta decay]]. When scientists write it in an equation, they are use the [[Greek alphabet|Greek letter]] beta (β). There are two forms of beta decay, β<sup>-</sup> and β<sup>+</sup>, which make the [[electron]] and the [[positron]]. β<sup>-</sup> is a single electron that has a negative charge of -1. Both beta decays also turn a [[neutron]] into a [[proton]]. ==References== {{reflist}} [[Category:Nuclear physics]] [[Category:Chemistry]] {{chem-stub}}