Editing Internal conversion (section)

==Example: decay of {{sup|203}}Hg==
[[File:Decay scheme of 203Hg.jpg|thumb|left|Decay scheme of {{sup|203}}Hg]]
[[File:Electron spectrum of 203Hg.png|thumb|Electron spectrum of {{sup|203}}Hg, according to  Wapstra et al., Physica 20 (1954) 169]]

The [[decay scheme]] on the left shows that {{sup|203}}Hg produces a continuous [[Beta decay|beta spectrum]] with maximum energy 214 keV, that leads to an excited state of the daughter nucleus {{sup|203}}Tl. This state decays very quickly (within 2.8×10{{sup|−10}}&nbsp;s) to the ground state of {{sup|203}}Tl, emitting a gamma quantum of 279&nbsp;keV.

The figure on the right shows the electron spectrum of {{sup|203}}Hg, measured by means of a magnetic [[spectrometer]]. It includes the continuous beta spectrum and K-, L-, and M-lines due to internal conversion. Since the binding energy of the K electrons in {{sup|203}}Tl is 85 keV, the K line has an energy of 279 − 85 = 194 keV. Due to lesser binding energies, the L- and M-lines have higher energies. Due to the finite energy resolution of the spectrometer, the "lines" have a [[Gaussian function|Gaussian]] shape of finite width.