Verified Solution • 2025–26 Session moderate

QPage 440: Q10: HC Verma: Concepts of Physics - Volume 2 The Nucleus Page 440: Q10 Solution: Does a nucleus lose mass when it suffers gamma decay?

⚠️ Common Exam Traps & Conceptual Pitfalls

Students often equate the unchanged mass number (A) with unchanged nuclear mass, overlooking $\Delta m = E_{\gamma}/c^{2}$; remember that emitting a gamma photon reduces the nucleus’s total mass by the photon’s energy divided by $c^{2}$, even though A remains the same.

Does a nucleus lose mass when it suffers gamma decay?

Step-by-Step Verified Solution

**Answer:** No, the nucleus does not lose mass during gamma decay. **Step-by-Step Explanation:** In gamma decay, the nucleus transitions from an excited state to a lower energy state by emitting a high-energy photon (gamma ray). The photon has zero rest mass and zero charge. The atomic number and mass number of the nucleus remain unchanged. However, the **mass of the nucleus** decreases by an amount equal to the energy of the gamma photon divided by c_ (since mass and energy are equivalent). This decrease is extremely small and often negligible[citation:4].

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