Radiation Dosage and Energy Absorbed by 69 kg Patient

[keweezz]

Alpha particles with an RBE of 13 deliver a 32 mrad whole-body radiation does to a 69 kg patient.

A) What dosage, in rem, does the patient receive?

B) How much energy is absorbed by the patient?

Can anyone help me with this problem? Stuck from the beginning..

 

[alphysicist]

Hi keweezz,

A good place to start would be to define the terms. What is a rad? What does RBE mean, and how is it used?

 

[keweezz]

Radiobiological Effectiveness for RBE i believe..and mrad is a unit like a millimeter.

 

[alphysicist]

Radiobiological Effectiveness for RBE i believe..and mrad is a unit like a millimeter.

Yes, a mrad is a milli-rad. But my questions was, what is a rad? Answering that will allow you to get half the problem done.

I think RBE stands for relative biological effectiveness; but those are just the words. How is the RBE factor used?

 

[keweezz]

hm.. how is it used..? any thoughts?