Gamma radiation Definition and 34 Threads

TL;DR Summary: Currently working on a project for lab where we're sending Geiger counters 100k feet into the air. Goal is to determine radiation as a function of altitude. Need some guidance. Hi everyone, I'm currently working on a project for lab where we're sending Geiger counters 100k feet...

I was looking at the gamma radiation data from IAEA's website: (https://www-nds.iaea.org/relnsd/vcharthtml/VChartHTML.html) and was confused by the absolute intensity listed in the page. I Googled it and it seems to be the probability of emission but why it doesn't add up to 100%? For example...

Hello, My question relates to gamma spectroscopy. I understand how the net peak area is calculated for any photopeak. Fortunately, gamma-spec software (e.g., Genie-2000 from Canberra) provides Net peak area and associated uncertainty (for Cs-137 661.7 keV peak, as an example). My question: are...

I have plastic which contains large amounts of Co-60 and Cs-137. I have already calculated the integrated (50k years) deposited dose from the gamma radiation using Monte-Carlo methods (SCALE). I am now interested in the contribution to deposited dose from the Beta emissions. -I am assuming that...

How ,exactly, are gamma and beta radiations produced in electron accelerators? Is the process for gamma almost the same as X-ray in linear accelerators? What about beta?

In order to calculate X and Gamma shielding of I should like use the NIST XCOM online at https://physics.nist.gov/PhysRefData/Xcom/html/xcom1.html In the Xcom tool it is obtained a graph and table of scattering in cm2/g. In order to calculate as example the shielding from 1e19 gamma rays of...

Hi everyone. I read from: https://www.nucleonica.com/Applet/NaturalRA/Button5/page5.html that inside the human body, 4400 of K40 atoms disintegrate every second through radioactive decay. Of this decay, 11% (480) results in gamma radiation, and 50% of that 11% (240) escapes the body. My...

Homework Statement Before the discovery of the neutron, it was proposed that the penetrating radiation produced when beryllium was bombarded with alpha particles consisted of high-energy &gamma rays (up to 50 MeV) produced in reactions such as α + 9Be --> 13C + γ a.) Calculate the Q value for...

I haven't though about this from such a perspective but today while reading wikipedia (yes yes not the best source) I got confused, now the "eV" is said to measure the energy gained by an electron between a potential difference of 1V. I assume particle physicists use this measurement because its...

I'm trying to find out how much gamma-radiation the average human is exposed too from background radiation. But all I can find are numbers describing the total background radiation, not just the gamma radiation alone. Does anyone know where I can find this information?

Homework Statement A point source of γ-radiation has a half-life of 30 minutes. The initial count rate, recorded by a Geiger counter placed 2.0 m from the source, is 360 s-1. The distance between the counter and the source is altered. After 1.5 hour the count rate recorded is 5 s-1. What is the...

Can high energy incoming protons and electrons be absorbed and their energies remitted by photons? If so what are the typical ranges of energies emitted and are they heading in the same direction as the original emission if we had a sheet of metal being bombarded by those protons and electrons?

I'm working on a lab and the task is to determine the half life of an element studying the beta radiation or the gamma radiation (emitted from the daughter). I have all the data and I'm done with the beta part, that was pretty straight forward. I have no clue how to relate the gamma radiation to...

So my question is, how long can you be exposed to a gamma radiation for? Specifically, I've been working with a sealed cobalt-60 source for a final presentation. Now my professor noted to me that these sources we're using aren't radioactive enough to cause us any harm. However, I've been...

1. Homework Statement A piece of work I am doing for college (UK college that is) has me investigating the inverse square law for gamma radiation. I have collected data and the graph comes out looking right. I want to create a linearised graph of the data to investigate the results further. If...

Hi, I came across a question in an exam which I couldn't really relate to any topic of physics, that I had studied. It goes like this- A detector is used to count the number of gamma rays emitted by a radioactive source. If the number of counts recorded in exactly 20 seconds is 10000, the...

I thought I would ask this question in the quantum mechanics section as I presume it has something to do with QM, like the reason why alpha and beta decay do not happen immediately but instead there is a half life for this decay. My understanding is that with alpha decay, the strong nuclear...

Hi folks Please bear with me, I'm new here and this may not be the correct forum to ask this question. If this is the case, I'll of course remove my question and ask it the appropriate place instead. However, here it goes: I need to be able to calculate how much a given intensity of gamma...

I would love some clarification on a gamma ray process. This is what I understand so far: Electrons are accelerated at 19MeV at a cathode which is releasing gamma ray photons with an energy of 1.9MeV. Is it possible to generalize the emission number of photons (roughly) to be equal to the...

Homework Statement "How could you show that a radioactive source was only emitting alpha and gamma radiation?"The attempt at a solution This really stumped me...obviously they have different penetration distances, and different strengths of ionisation, but I don't know how to show that only...

After performing this experiment, we will get different peaks on the computer screen, where on x-axis lies thickness of the absorber and on the y-axis the nb of channels. What do these represent exactly? Why do we have a high peak and a medium sized one? What are the significances of each...

Different materials emit different frequencies of radiation when heated by a source of heat such as electricity. Examples include gases and solid filaments that emit infrared, visible and ultraviolet radiation, and the scheelite calcium tungstate filaments used to produce x-rays in fluoroscopes...

Several elementary particles emits gamma radiation Where can I read more about the different magnitude?

I have had a great deal of trouble finding sources that are specific as to how exactly radiation damages the body, it usually just says what damage radiation causes but not how it causes it, so I have compiled what I have found and I want to know if it is accurate and to fill in sequence of...

I know that gamma rays are a part of the electromagnetic spectrum and that they are also a type of nuclear radiation, created upon the decaying of a large, unstable nucleus. Is there any difference between these 2 definitions of gamma radiation? Is gamma radiation only created in the way...

Homework Statement The radioactive substance emits gamma radiation. Complete the equation below for the disintegration of the nuclei of this substance. Homework Equations ^{24}_{11}Na^{*} \rightarrow ^{?}_{?}Na + ? The Attempt at a Solution ^{24}_{11}Na^{*} \rightarrow...

Why only gamma radiation...? [FONT="Comic Sans MS"]All the radioactive elements emit either alpha, beta, never both and maybe sometimes gamma with these. But why do they emit gamma rays only? Why not X-Rays?

I read earlier that the photoelectric effect is when electromagnetic radiation essentially overcomes an electrons binding energy and converts it to electricity, which is how solar panels function. But why is it that gamma radiation isn't being used to capture energy? If gamma radiation has a...

Question about Gamma Radiation. I understand that Gamma Radiation, like X-Rays, are just photons (light particles) at different frequencies. I was reading an article about the Nuclear Plant problems in Japan, and the article stated that photons from Gamma Radiation for the most part pass...

Homework Statement a gamma raidiation source (226Ra) is used in hospital laboratory. if shielding is considered as a means of control how many centimeters are needed to reduce the radiation to 1% of what a worker would be exposed to without shielding? assume the shield material is a)...

Alright, I've confirmed that Radium produces Gamma rays. But how much does it put off? Is it a really high level or a tolerable level that can be stopped.

[SOLVED] Gamma radiation gamma radiation does anyone know how it is produced within the nucleus? and I know that gamma radiation takes place after a isotope has undergone a decay and is in an excited state. I know that what interest me is the very nature of the excited state! and how the...

Haven't been able to find the answer anywhere IRL yet, so I thought I'd see if someone in the PhysicsForums could help me with this one. When doing SEM/EDS (EDX/EDXS) (~equivalent to x-ray fluorescence) analysis it looks as if my europium containing samples contain copper as well, which'd...

About gamma radiation bursts What if the bursts we observe are the light equivalent of a sonic boom? The energy report of an object surpassing the speed of light. These could be tell tale signs of superluminal or warp travel. As an oblect reaches the speed of light, light would be compressed...