Ionizing radiation is emitted by unstable chemical elements and can be harmful to human health. Alpha particles, beta particles, and gamma rays have different effects. Non-ionizing radiation, such as visible light and microwaves, is safer. Alpha particles are large and cannot penetrate skin, but can cause cancer if ingested. Beta particles can travel farther and are useful for cancer treatment and dating fossils. Gamma rays are the most dangerous and can travel great distances, but are used in industrial radiography. Regulations limit exposure levels. A gamma-ray star explosion could harm human health.
Ionizing radiation is a form of energy emitted by chemical elements or compounds that have an unstable electric charge, which can be positive or negative. The electrically charged particles emitted are known as alpha particles, beta particles or gamma rays, and each type of radiation has various characteristic effects. Some heavy elements in nature naturally produce these effects, such as uranium, thorium and radium, and the presence or close proximity of these materials in relation to the human body can be harmful to human health. This is because ionizing radiation exists along a broad radiation spectrum where it is responsible for much higher levels of energy emission than non-ionizing radiation, such as that produced by radio wave transmissions.
Forms of non-ionizing radiation that are considered relatively safe with controlled exposure include visible light waves, microwave energy, and infrared light, such as that used by a toaster oven to heat bread. These forms of radiation have extremely long wavelengths compared to ionizing radiation and lose power rapidly with distance or can be easily reflected from a surface. The danger of exposure to ionizing radiation is largely due to the high-frequency waves by which it is carried, which can penetrate most materials to some extent and alter their chemical structure by breaking normal chemical bonds.
Commonly occurring types of ionizing radiation have different levels of energy release. A typical ionization process for an atom or molecule releases 33 electron volts of energy into the surrounding area, enough to break most types of chemical bonds. This level of energy release is considered particularly important because it is capable of breaking the bonds between the carbon atoms on which all life forms on Earth are based.
The emission of alpha particles, in which two protons and two neutrons are involved, is produced by radioactive elements such as radon, plutonium and uranium. They are the largest particles of ionizing radiation by mass, and that means they can’t travel far before being stopped by a barrier. They do not have the energy to penetrate the outer layers of human skin, but have the potential to cause cancer if ingested through air or water.
Beta particle radiation is produced by loose particles in an atomic nucleus that look like electrons. These particles have much less mass than alpha particles and can therefore travel farther. They are also produced from rare elements such as isotopes of strontium, cesium and iodine. The effects of ionizing radiation from beta particles can be severe in large doses, leading to death, and are a major component of radioactive fallout from nuclear weapon detonations. In small quantities, they are useful for cancer treatment and medical imaging. These particles are also useful in archaeological research, as unstable carbon elements such as carbon-14 can be used to date fossil remains.
The ionizing radiation of gamma rays is produced by gamma photons which are often emitted from unstable atomic nuclei together with beta particles. Although they are a type of photon that carry light energy like ordinary visible light, a gamma photon has 10,000 times more energy than a standard white light photon. These emissions have no mass like alpha particles and can travel great distances before losing their energetic charge. Although often classified with X-rays, gamma rays are emitted by the atomic nucleus, while X-rays are emitted by electron shells around an atom.
Ionizing radiation regulations strictly limit exposure levels to gamma rays, although they occur naturally at low levels and are produced from the isotope potassium-40 found in soil, water and potassium-rich foods. Industrial uses for gamma radiation include the practice of radiography to trace cracks and voids in welded parts and metal composites such as in high-speed jet engine turbines for aircraft. Gamma-ray radiation is considered by far the most dangerous form of radiation to living things in large doses, and it has been speculated that if a gamma-ray star 8,000 light-years from Earth exploded, it could destroy half of the of terrestrial ozone, making exposure to ionizing radiation from our Sun much more harmful to human health.
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