An alpha particle is identical to a(n)

Helium nucleus

Explanation:

Alpha particles have two protons and two neutrons, wich is the configuration of an Helium Nucleus.

The atomic number of an element it is the number of protons that the element has in its nucleus, this number is uniqe to every element. Helium is the second element in the periodic table so Its atomic number is 2, This means it has two protons and the same amount of neutrons, wich makes alpha particles identical to a helium nucleus, not to a Helium atom, because a Helium atom has electrons and alpha particles don't have electrons.

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the only real purpose of sputnik 1 was to beat the us into space. we were getting close to launching a useful satellite, explorer 1 - which launched on january 31, 1958. the ussr had to beat that, so they launched sputnik 1 on october 4, 19