Practice question

Tritium is heavy isotope of hydrogen containing one proton and two neutrons unstable undergoing beta-minus decay with half-life about 12.3 years. A neutron converts to proton emitting low-energy electron around 18 keV and antineutrino. Resulting nucleus now has two protons and one neutron, which is helium-3, stable light isotope accumulating in tritium reservoirs. Deuterium is stable precursor not product, hydrogen protium has only one proton, carbon unrelated. This transformation explains tritium decay product being helium gas used for leak detection tracing.