Alpha decay occurs when a nucleus is unstable because it has too many protons. ... The nucleus emits an alpha particle and energy. An alpha particle consists of two protons and two neutrons, which is actually a helium nucleus. Losing the protons and neutrons makes the nucleus more stable.

What forces causes alpha decay?

Like other cluster decays, alpha decay is fundamentally a quantum tunneling process. Unlike beta decay, it is governed by the interplay between both the strong nuclear force and the electromagnetic force.

How do you get alpha decay?

So first look at the father nucleus and list its number of protons and its atomic weight. Step 3) Now from number of neutrons subtract 2 and from number of protons subtract 2 as an alpha particle has 2 neutrons and 2 protons and in an alpha decay an alpha particle will always form in case of any any father nucleus.