Which type of radioactive particle (s) has/have been emitted in the following equation?

214/84 PO - > 210/82 Pb + ?

alpha particle only

beta particle only

alpha and beta particles

alpha and beta particles and gamma radiation

Answer is "alpha particle only".

alpha decay is an emission of ₂⁴He nucleus. If an element undergoes an alpha decay, the mass number of the daughter nucleus formed is reduced by 4 compared to mass number of parent atom and atomic number is reduced by 2 compared to atomic number of parent atom.

Po has atomic number 84 and mass number as 214. Hence, the formed daughter atom should have 84 - 2 = 82 as the atomic number and 214 - 4 = 210 as the mass number. The decay reaction is

₈₄²¹⁴Po → ₈₂²¹⁰Pb + ₂ ⁴He