ALL ABOUT RADIATION
In this section, you will learn all there is about the actual radiation rays: Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and X rays. You will also learn about how neutrons affect the human body through radiation.
ALPHA RAYS
A particle ray consisting of two protons and two neutrons. Alpha rays and produced following spontaneous decay of certain radioactive atoms, such as plutonium, radon, uranium, and radium. Because of its large mass and positive charge, they can usually pass only a short distance (less than 1mm in water). A single piece of paper can stop an alpha ray effectively. So health effects from alpha ray exposure only appear when alpha emitting materials are ingested (internal ingestion).
BETA RAYS
A particle ray consisting of a fast electron whose mass is nearly 1/2000 of the mass of a proton or a neutron. They are produced from the spontaneous decay of certain radioactive materials, such as strontium-90 (an isotope), phosphorus-32, carbon-14, and tritium (isotope of hydrogen). Beta rays can traverse different distances in water depending on their energy (1mm for tritium and 1cm for phosphorus-32). As with alpha rays, only ingestion can cause severe damage.
GAMMA RAYS
Gamma rays are and electromagnetic ray and is similar to visible light, but differs in energy (wavelength). Sunlights gives off various electromagnetic rays such as visible light, infrared, and ultraviolet, which has the shortest wavelength, but gamma rays are even shorter, which in turn means far more energy. Gamma rays come from cobalt-60 and cesium-137. A cobalt-60 gamma rays can penetrate deep into the human body, so it has been widely used for cancer radiotherapy.
X RAYS
X rays have the same characteristics as gamma rays, but are produced differently. When high-speed electrons hit metal, electrons are stopped and energy is released in an electromagnetic wave. Wilhelm Roentgen, in 1895, discovered this. He considered it a mysterious ray, and called it the X ray. It consists of a mixture of different wavelengths, where gamma ray's energy has a fixed value characteristic to the radioactive material.
NEUTRONS
The only main negative effect neutrons have on the human body, is during an atomic bomb is exploded, neutrons control the reaction the causes the radiation. Since the body is 70% water, the neutrons being added to the water cause ionizations which cause various amounts of damage. Neutrons can be more damaging to the body than gamma rays.