A conversion electron is an electron which results from interactions with metastable atomic nuclei, which results from radioactive decay processes. A metastable nucleus can transfer its energy to an electron that has a certain probability of being in the nucleus. If this happens, the electron becomes a free electron with a kinetic energy equal to the energy of the metastable state minus the binding energy of the electron. This electron is called a conversion electron. Because of its proximity to the nucleus, the conversion electron usually comes from the K shell. The hole in the electron shell is filled by electrons from other shells thus producing a characteristic X-ray peak. The x-ray may then reproduce the effect and cause the emission of an Auger electron. Properties The electron is a fundamental subatomic particle which carries a negative electric charge. ... Nucleus can mean: The Nuclear Envelope The nucleus is enveloped by a pair of membranes enclosing a lumen that is continuous with that of the endoplasmic reticulum. ... Kinetic energy is energy that a body has as a result of its speed. ... Binding energy is the energy required to disassemble a whole into separate parts. ... In atomic physics, an electron shell is a group of atomic orbitals with the same value of the principal quantum number n. ... In the NATO phonetic alphabet, X-ray represents the letter X. An X-ray picture (radiograph) taken by Röntgen An X-ray is a form of electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength approximately in the range of 5 pm to 10 nanometers (corresponding to frequencies in the range 30 PHz... When an electron is removed from a core level of an energy. ...

Conversion occurs for the same nuclear decays as gamma decay, and hence competes with that process. This article is about electromagnetic radiation. ...