How dangerous is matter/antimatter collisions?

[39ster]

If i had enough matter and antimatter to release same amount of energy as a small camp fire, would the gamma rays be dangerous?

 

[Naty1]

Are any gamma rays NOT dangerous...I assume you mean to life.

 

[olgranpappy]

Are any gamma rays NOT dangerous...I assume you mean to life.

It's all a matter of dose, really.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dosimetry

"All things are poison and nothing is without poison, only the dose permits something not to be poisonous."--Paracelsus

 

[mgb_phys]

If you collided a single electron and positron you would only get a pair of gamma photons, the odds of doing much damage with just 2 photons are pretty small.

If the safe dose of gamma is around 10mSv (that is absorbed 10mJ/kg of body weight) and you weigh 100kg (it's worth hitting the burgers to make the maths easier) then you can absorb about 1kJ of gamma rays - that is the energy output of small campfire (say 1kw) in 1 second.

 

[my_wan]

On the other hand the same energy released during the during the course of the campfire squeezed in a few milliseconds tells me I want to stand at a safe distance. The gamma photons would be the least of my worries. Damage would be comparable to more than a few sticks of dynamite.