See Radioactive Decay.

There are two kinds of beta decay: beta minus and beta plus decay. The differentiation depends on the charge of the emitted particle.
At the beta plus decay in the nucleus a proton changes to a neutron and emits a positron and a neutrino. The atom is after the decay a different element, but with the same number of particles in the nucleus.
At the beta minus decay in the nucleus a neutron changes to a proton and emits an electron and an antineutrino. As with the beta plus decay the atom changes to a different element but with the same number of particles in the nucleus.
Sometimes the electron capture is mentioned as a third kind of beta decay.
Beta decay is used for example in positron-electron tomography or in iodine-131 therapy.

See also Electron Capture.

The alpha decay is a corpuscular radiation. Two protons and two neutrons (a helium core) are emitted from the atomic nucleus. Because of the high biological effectiveness, the use of alpha particle radiation is not allowed in diagnostic nuclear medicine.

Decay chain or decay series is a series of decays that certain radioisotopes go through before reaching a stable form. For example, the production of technetium-99m (daughter nuclide with a half-life of 6 hours) from molybdenum-99 (parent nuclide with a half-life of 66 hours) in a generator is part of a decay chain.

See also Decay and Generator.

Identification of an unknown radionuclide by measuring the decrease in radioactivity.

See also Decay.