Radiation is something that many people don't know much about. Radiation is indeed everywhere, you just don't see it - can now, most of them, and that you, as you don't see everything, what is good. Most people have a general idea of what it might be, and maybe even know some examples of how it manifests itself - such as from a microwave or x-ray.
With the recent threat of nuclear disaster here in Japan, by the massive earthquake and subsequent tsunami inflicted damage caused many people undoubtedly caught were not to know how she would have about radiation effects, types of radiation, and amounts to what a "safe" radiation dose.
But before we can understand what makes so potentially harmful radiation, we need to understand what it is and where it comes. There are two types of radiation: ionizing radiation and non-ionizing radiation. Ionizing radiation is what we are looking for, and it's transformed the kind of radiation, the atoms into ions or atoms with unequal numbers of protons and electrons.
"So what exactly is ionising radiation?"
Ionizing radiation is radiation simply, which has the energy capacity, ionise atoms and is often the only form of radiation at the speak radiation implies. The ionizing an atom occurs when ionizing radiation with an atom an electron "tap off" and caused an uneven amount of electrons and protons colliding. This leaves the Atom with a net positive charge - also called a cation.
Vice versa is a net negative charge occurs when an atom receives an electron as a result of energetic enough, to his way in an atom, also called literally to force an anion free electrons. These two processes are the basis of the ionization. Alpha particles, beta particles, neutrons, X-rays, gamma rays and cosmic rays are examples of ionizing radiation.
Now that we understand the process of ionization and which ionizing radiation is, we can reveal its potential dangers. As simple as this may sound, the physical side effects of radiation caused by the change of the atoms through this ionization up to the manifest physical symptoms such as death, cancer, genetic mutations process and ultimately death.
"Whence comes from this ionising radiation?"
See ionizing radiation as invisible particles or waves of energy emitted from radioactive atoms or radiation producing machines such as nuclear reactors. Radioactive atoms, also known as radioisotopes or radionuclides, atoms with one are unstable core, and therefore radioactive decay at a rate, expressed by the half life experience.
While radioactive decay is radiation ionising the atom, in the form of gamma radiation or subatomic particles. However, it is ionizing radiation from naturally occurring radioactive decay within safe limits. Nuclear reactors are responsible on the other hand for the unlimited emission of large amounts of ionizing radiation on nuclear fission.
Of course this radiation in the housing structure is included, as long as it does what it should. -Which is precisely the point in question! If something happens, such as earthquakes and other natural disasters and the radiation is somehow forbid engineers may leak or God outside of the control and foresight, flood out - there will be a major disaster.
Ionizing radiation in the form of radioisotope caesium-137 and iodine-131 is scattered then by the wind which will carry them far. The life of a radioisotope is apparent from the half-life, therefore, one can say that the amount of damage it can inflict is partly based on the half-life. Iodine-131 has, for example, only a half-life of about 8 days, while caesium-137 has a half-life of about 30 years.
But half life is not the only factor involved determine potential danger and its extent. The half-life is reduced, increasing the amount of ionizing radiation emitted per unit of time. So even though the time during which it do damage is, shorter, it is more concentrated and intense. Another factor is the atomic mass of the radioisotope.
The harder it is faster is it on the floor, and the smaller decrease the radius of the contamination. On the other hand the "lighter" the radioisotopes, the next they will be carried out by the wind. Of course, intrusion into the groundwater and all nearby waters such as rivers due to the range of contamination and potential hang out of radioactive water can be particularly dangerous.
Absorbed dose vs. equivalent dose (gray vs. sievert)
There are two main ways to the doses of radiation to measure depending on the context: the absorbed dose and the equivalent dose. Mass is a measure of the energy by ionizing radiation per unit in a medium stored the absorbed dose, measured in the SI unit, the gray (GY). It makes no distinction between types of radiation, but is simply a measure of the absorbed dose energy in a particular material.
The gray is therefore not accurate representation of the adverse biological effects of radiation, as it measures the dose to net energy per unit mass without taking into account what the relative biological effectiveness (RBE, extensively treated more below) is called. The sievert is a more accurate representation of effects of radiation on the other hand.
The sievert or equivalent dose is equal to the absorbed dose, grey, multiplied by a "weighting factor", radiation type and depends on its energy. Alpha particles have, for example, a weighting of 20, in contrast to photons and electrons, which have only a weighting factor of 1. So a dose of energy alpha particles equal to 1 gray is again, just an equivalent dose 20 Sieverts.
Relative biological effectiveness (RBE)
The relative biological effectiveness equals the above weighting factor and essentially defined biological tissue damage the effectiveness of ionizing radiation to the. Although most alpha particles harmful when they, can do it in your body because of its size, can penetrate them, for example, very far in things. Even on a single sheet of paper an alpha particle will stop!
So although alpha particles have a high relative biological effectiveness, they must still make it into your system before they can cause damage, they are able to inflict. In contrast to gamma rays and neutrons can penetrate deeper and are therefore more dangerous for the human body from the outside.
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