Why does a radioactive isotope decay via alpha emission, rather than beta emission, when its neutron-to-proton ratio is too low for stability?

💡 Explanation

Alpha emission increases the neutron-to-proton ratio because it decreases the number of protons more than neutrons, thereby moving the nucleus towards stability. Therefore, alpha decay is favored when N/Z is too low, rather than beta decay, which would further decrease the N/Z ratio.

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