Radiation

Radiation is the transfer of energy from one place to another by means of particles or waves.

Two Basic Types of radiation are:

Ionizing

Non-Ionizing

Atoms

All atoms have 3 basic particles:

protons (shown in red)

neutrons (green)

electrons (black)

Atoms can be Stable or Unstable.

Stable atoms

(Do not spontaneously release energy)

Unstable atoms

(Spontaneously release excess energy in the form of waves or particles)

Radiation is:

Energy emitted from unstable atoms in the form of rays or particles.

The emitted radiation transfers its energy to the material it passes through.

Ionizing radiation

Ionizing radiation is the type of radiation with enough kinetic energy so that during an interaction with an atom, it can remove tightly bound electrons from their orbits, causing the atom to become charged or ionized. Some examples of ionizing radiation include :

Particulate ionizing radiation which are:

• Alpha radiation
• Beta radiation
• Neutron radiation.

Radiation emission in waves:

• gamma radiation
• x-rays

Non-ionizing radiation

Non-ionizing radiation is the type of radiation that :

does not ionize the atoms around it

does NOT have enough energy to remove electrons from neighboring atoms

presents hazards different from ionizing radiation

Some examples of non-ionizing radiation include:

Radio-waves

Lasers

Electricity

Visible Light

Microwaves

Sunlight

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Last Update: January 9, 2007

By: Serdar Z. Elgun