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One neutron in the parent nucleus turns into a proton, and it does so by ejecting a beta particle, which is a single unit of negative charge or one electron. The mass number of the nucleus remains the same because the total number of protons plus neutrons remains the same, and electrons are too small to bother with. But the atomic number increases by one because there is now one more proton than before.
The Ancestor's Tale: A Pilgrimage to the Dawn of Evolution
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