thethinkingatom

Radioactivity

Radioactivity is the process in which an unstable atomic nucleus loses energy by releasing radiation in the form of particle or electromagnetic waves. During radioactive decay, an atom emits specific types of radiation, which vary in factors like mass and charge. There are three types of radiation that are released:

Alpha Particles: This type of radiation consists of 2neutrons and 2 protons. Event though they have high ionizing power(the ability of radiation to strip electrons from atoms or molecules converting them to ions), they can easily block a sheet of paper or skin.

Beta Particles: Beta radiation has two types- Beta plus decay and beta minus decay.

Beta plus decay: This occurs when a nucleus has to many neutrons. It turns a neutron into a proton which is a positively charged subatomic particle, a particle known as a beta minus particle which is negatively charged, and a antineutrino, which is a tiny, chargeless, almost massless particle that also shoots out of the nucleus, carrying away excess energy and momentum.

Beta minus decay: This occurs when a nucleus has too many protons. A proton turned into a positron which is also known as a beta plus particle. This particle is positively charged.

Gamma Rays: They are weightless, high-energy electromagnetic waves. They have the highest penetrating power and require thick lead or concrete to be successfully blocked.

Under the topic of radioactivity, the term half life refers to the time required for exactly half of the radioactive atoms in a sample to decay. This time is constant as it cannot be affected by external factors such as pressure and temperature.

Radioactivity is measured in:

Becquerel (Bq): Measures the activity (the number of decays per second).
Gray (Gy): Measures the amount of radiation energy absorbed by matter.
Sievert (Sv): Measures the biological effect and damage to human tissue.

While radioactivity is often associated with nuclear energy, it has vital, everyday applications in medicine and science like in Medicine it is used in cancer treatments (radiotherapy) and medical imaging (PET and SPECT scans) and radioactivity is also used in smoke detectors and material thickness gauges.