Nuclear Radiation

• Alpha particles

  • Made up of two protons and two neutrons, represented with helium's nuclear symbol, have an overall charge of two plus, easily stopped by collisions with other molecules, strongly ionizing
• Neutrons


  • Emission of a neutron from a nucleus to increase stability when there are too many neutrons, not much to know about them
• When a material is radioactive, it consists of unstable isotopes that can decay
• Gamma rays are stopped by

  A thick piece of lead
• Only one or two of an element's isotopes are stable, while the rest are unstable and can undergo radioactive decay
• Types of nuclear radiation

  1. Alpha particles

  2. Beta particles

  3. Gamma rays

  4. Neutrons
• Alpha particles are stopped by


  A single sheet of paper
• Beta particles


  • Just electrons with a charge of -1, emitted when an atom's neutron decays into a proton and an electron, moderately ionizing, penetrate moderately far into materials
• Each element comes in a number of different forms called isotopes, each of which has the same number of protons but a different number of neutrons
• Beta particles are stopped by


  A thin sheet of aluminium
• Gamma rays


  • Waves of electromagnetic radiation, emitted after alpha or beta radiation, weakly ionizing, penetrate far into materials before being stopped
• Radioactive decay is where unstable isotopes emit something to change slightly and become more stable