During their travel, beta particles typically undergo what process?

• A. They do not experience any deflection.
• B. They experience many deflections during travel, causing many ionizations.
• C. They are unaffected by electric fields.
• D. They always travel at the speed of light.

Answer: (B)

Beta particles are charged, high-energy electrons (or positrons) emitted in decay. As they travel, they interact with atomic electrons and nuclei, and with any external electric or magnetic fields. These interactions cause many small-angle scatterings, so the path becomes bent rather than perfectly straight. Each collision can transfer energy to an atom, producing ionizations along the way. So, they undergo numerous deflections while causing numerous ionizations during their journey. They are not unaffected by fields and do not move at the exact speed of light because they have mass, so their speed is close to, but less than, c.