What types of radiation are there?

When the nucleus of an atom is unstable, it occasionally emits either waves or particles to stabilise itself.

The three types of radiation are: Alpha particles, Beta particles and Gamma waves.

Alpha particles are relatively large, being made up from two protons and two neutrons. These particles cannot travel far without colliding with other atoms (i.e. atoms in the air) and losing their energy. This means alpha radiation is easily stopped by even thin materials such as paper.

Beta particles are simply high energy electrons which can are much smaller than alpha particles, hence can travel further before losing their energy in collisions. A thin sheet of aluminium is capable of stopping beta radiation.

Gamma waves are high energy electromagnetic waves. It can be thought of as extremely high energy light, which is invisible to our eyes as its frequency is too high for our eyes to detect. As gamma radiation is a wave, it is not stopped as easily by collisions with atoms. This means gamma rays easily pass through human skin, its high energy can result in cancerous mutations of cells. Dense materials such as lead are required to stop gamma radiation.

DW
Answered by Daniel W. Physics tutor

2147 Views

See similar Physics GCSE tutors

Related Physics GCSE answers

All answers ▸

What is teminal velocity?


How do we know about the structure of the atom?


Using newtons laws explain how a falling object can reach terminal velocity (6)


A particle of mass 5kg is acted upon by a force of 400N for a distance of 20m along the x axis. What is its final velocity if it is initally at rest?


We're here to help

contact us iconContact ustelephone icon+44 (0) 203 773 6020
Facebook logoInstagram logoLinkedIn logo

© MyTutorWeb Ltd 2013–2025

Terms & Conditions|Privacy Policy
Cookie Preferences