RADIATION Flashcards
RADIATION
-energy in transit in the form of high speed particles or electromagnetic waves
EG: gravitational waves
IONIZING RADIATION
radiation which has has sufficient energy to ionize an atom
Ionizing radiation is capable of knocking electrons out of their orbits around atoms, upsetting the electron/proton balance and giving the atom a positive charge
EG: gamma rays, neutrons
NON-IONIZING RADIATION
Non-ionizing radiation has less energy than ionizing radiation; it does not possess enough energy to produce ions.
EG: visible light, infrared, radio waves, microwaves, and
sunlight, earths magnetic field
ELECTROMAGENTIC RADIATION
the flow of energy at universal speed of light through free space or through a material medium in the form of electric and magnetic fields that make up electromagentic waves
EG: radio waves, visible light, gamma rays
POSESSES ABILITY TO EXCITE OTHER ATOMS IN THEIR VICINITY
-> flow of photons through space
-> electric and magnetic fields linked with each other at right angles and perpendicular to the direction of motion
-> there is as much energy carried by the electric component as the magnetic component and the energy is proportional to the square of the field of strength
PHOTONS
packets of energy that always move with the universal speed of light
WHEN IS ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION PRODUCED?
whenever a charged particle changes velocity
EG: oscillating current in radio antenna
-> any system that emits electromagnetic radiation can also absorb radiation at the same frequency
1: broad continuous spectrum of frequencies (the sun)
2: characteristic frequencies (radio transmitter)
WHAT IS UNIQUE ABOUT LIGHT?
the speed of light is always the same
3x10^10c,/sec
-> the higher the frequency the lower the wavelength and vice versa
-> the higher the frequency the higher the energy
-> can be any wavelength
WHAT PHOTONS MAKE IT THROUGH THE ATMOSPHERE?
-gamma and xray are absorbed
-infrared and ultraviolet are absorbed
-visible light and radio waves make it through
WHAT HAS THE SHORTEST WAVE LENGTH BUT HIGHEST ENERGY?
gamma waves
WHICH TISSUE HAS MOST RESISTANCE TO IRRADIATION?
neural tissue
muscle
WHAT IS THE SPEED OF ULTRASOUND IN COMPARISON TO SPEED OF SOUND?
its the same
WHAT IS THE DOPPLER SHIFT?
the change in frequency of a wave in relation to an observer who is moving relative to the wave source
WHAT IS A BETA PARTICLE?
positron
WHAT IS THE INVERSE SQUARE LAW OF LIGHT?
light intensity is inversely proportional to the square of the distance
CHARACTERISTICS OF LASER
monochromatic
polarized
coherent
RADIOACTIVE ATOMS
atoms whose nuclei is not stable
-> can spontaneously transform into new nuclei overtime
WHAT DOES IONIZING RADIATION DO?
changes the chemical nature of the radioactive atoms due to emission of nuclear particles
WHERE DOES GAMMA RADIATION ORIGINATE?
atomic nucleus
WHERE DOES X RADIATION ORIGINATE?
atomic electron cloud
WHAT IS THE UNIT OF ACTIVITY?
becquerel Bq
curie Ci
WHAT IS THE UNIT OF ABSORBED DOSE?
gray Gy = 1 joule/kg
-> amount of energy deposited per unit mass in target material
WHAT IS THE UNIT OF EQUIVALENT DOSE (H)?
sievert Sv
-> takes into account the effect of the radiation on tissue by using weighting factor
H = D X W
Sv = Gy x Q
Q = quality factor
ACTIVITY
amount of radioactive nuclei decayed or transformed per second
-> decreases exponentially with time
WHAT IS THE UNIT OF ENERGY OF RADIOACTIVE PARTICLES?
1 eV
WHAT IS EXPOSURE?
describes the absolute value of the total electrical charge of ions produced by ionizing radiation in the air, divided by the mass of the air, where the electrons where released
-> coloumb per kilogram
-> commonly used parameter to describe gamma and xray
WHAT IS THE QUALITY FACTOR?
describes different qualities of radiation in regard to the biological effects it causes
-> only for humans
PHYSICAL HALF LIFE
average time required for the decay of exactly 1/2 the atoms in a given amount of radioactive isotope
-> unit is time and depends on type of isotope
BIOLOGICAL HALF LIFE
time in which a living organism eliminates 1/2 a given amount of a radionuclide
-> unit of dose is Sievert
EFFECTIVE HALF LIFE
the half life of a radionuclide in a biologic organism from the combination of biologic elimination and radioactive decay
-> always shorter than physical half life
ISOTOPIC NUMBER
difference between the amount of neutrons and protons in the nucleus
ISOTOPES
the same number of protons but different number of neutrons
ISOBARS
elements that have the same nucleon number but different number of protons
-> represent different chemicals
ISOTONES
elements that have the same number of neutrons but a different number of protons
WHAT IS THE MASS NUMBER ALSO KNOWN AS?
nucleon