File:Atomic_rearrangement_following_an_electron_capture.svg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
electron capture
Sign in to saveAlso known as K-electron capture, K-capture, L-electron capture, L-capture, orbital electron capture
process in which a proton-rich nuclide absorbs an inner atomic electron
~7 min read
Encyclopedic overview
Scheme of two types of electron capture. Top: The nucleus absorbs an electron. Lower left: An outer electron replaces the "missing" electron. Electromagnetic radiation equal in energy to the difference between the two electron shells is emitted. Lower right: In the Auger effect, the energy absorbed when the outer electron replaces the inner electron is transferred to an outer electron. The outer electron is ejected from the atom, leaving a positive ion.
Electron capture (K-electron capture, also K-capture, or L-electron capture, L-capture) is a process in which the proton-rich nucleus of an electrically neutral atom absorbs an inner atomic electron, usually from the K or L electron shells. This process thereby changes a nuclear proton to a neutron and simultaneously causes the emission of an electron neutrino.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “electron capture” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.