The magnitude, M, of an earthquake is represented by the equation M=23log(EE0) where E is the amount of energy released by the earthquake in joules and E0=104.4 is the assigned minimal measure released by an earthquake. To the nearest tenth, what would be the magnitude of an earthquake releasing 3.4⋅1014 joules of energy?

answer: the correct answer is 1.

explanation: there are various process in which a radioactive nuclei decays:

1) alpha decay: in this process, a heavier nuclei decays into lighter nuclei by releasing alpha particle. the mass number is reduced by 4 units.

2) electron capture: in this decay process, a parent nuclei absorbs an electron and gets converted into a neutron. simply, a proton and an electron combines together to form a neutron. mass number does not change in this process.

3) gamma ray emission: it is a decay process in which an unstable nuclei gives excess energy by a spontaneous electromagnetic process. this decay releases . this process does not change the mass number.

4) positron emission: it is a type of decay process, in which a proton gets converted to neutron and an electron neutrino. this is also known as -decay. in this the mass number remains same.

from the above information, we see that only alpha-decay is producing a change in the mass number of the nucleus.

it is a negative acceleration