Beta (\(\beta^-\)) decay is the release of an electron by the change of a neutron to a proton. The neutron (charge = 0) is made up of one up quark (charge = \(\frac{2}{3}\)) and two down quarks ...

After emitting an alpha or beta particle, the nucleus will often still be ‘excited’ and will need to lose energy. It does this by emitting a high energy electromagnetic wave called a gamma ray.