Dangers of radiation

• Most radioactive background activity comes from natural sources such as cosmic rays from space, rocks and soil
• Living things and plants absorb radioactive materials from the soil which are passed along through the food chain
• Protection when handling radioactive materials

  • wear protective clothing

  • keep source as far away as possible using tongs • work quickly to keep exposure to the source to as short a time as possible • keep radioactive materials in a lead lined container
• Radioactive Decay

  Is random and spontaneous, this means we can not predict when a particular nucleus will disintegrate, it also means that the rate of decay is unaffected by any physical changes such as temp, pressure or chemical changes
• Half life is the time taken for the activity of a radioactive material to fall by half