First of all what is a Gamma Ray? A gamma ray is a high energy ionized radiation (EPA). Gamma photons have about 10,000 times more energy as photons (EPA). Along with that gamma rays wavelengths are so short they have to be measured in nanometers (EPA). They also are the strongest type of radiation which makes them the most dangerous. How are Gamma rays dangerous? A gamma-ray photon has enough energy to damage atoms in your body and make them radioactive (Christian, Eric). Gamma ray radiation also causes murderous burn, breast and a lung and thyroid cancer, genetics illnesses (Asiye, Gul). But when did we even discover gamma rays? In 1896 Henri Becquerel, a French Physicist, discovered gamma rays, he called it metallic phosphorescence (EPA). Becquerel had found gamma radiation being emitted by radium (EPA).
There is quite a bit of history involving gamma ray radiation. We have learned that gamma rays that come from space are mostly absorbed by Earth's atmosphere, which means that gamma ray astronomy couldn’t be developed until we could study it from the outside (Mattson, Barbra). The first gamma ray telescope was made and sent into space in 1961, as it turns out it picked up less than 100 gamma ray photons that seemed to be coming from all directions in the universe (Mattson, Barbra). The first successful detection of gamma ray radiation in space was in 1967 by the gamma ray detector aboard the OSO-3 satellite, it detected 621 dealings with gamma rays (Mattson, Barbra). Later on the SAS-2 and COS-B satellites provided more gamma ray radiation data (Mattson, Barbra). The data from these satellites confirmed earlier data found on the gamma rays background, it also produced the first detailed map of the sky at gamma ray wave le...
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...mma-Rays radiation(Can Lasers). They claim it blocks gamma ray radiation 99% of the time versus using lead or concrete blocks to protect us from gamma ray radiation.
In conclusion, gamma rays, I have learned, are dangerous but sometimes useful. There has been a great deal of research put into studying gamma rays and gamma ray radiation. Gamma rays have a tremendous amount of energy and their wave lengths are very small. I would have never thought there was something like gamma rays that could cause cancers.
Works Cited
Christian,Eric. “Ask An Astrophysicist”. NASA’s Imagine the Universe. NASA.1998. Web. 13 Nov 2013.
EPA. “Radiation Protection”. US Environmental Protection Agency. EPA. 2013. Web. 13 Nov 2013.
Packham, Brad. Personal Interview. 13 Nov 2013
Asyie, Gul. “Hybrid Polymer Gamma Ray Shielding Material”. Can Lasers A.S. Can Lasers A.S. Web. 13 Nov 2013.
Radiation exposure can affect children as well an children have the risk of being the most harmfully effected by radiation because their body absorbs substances differently also their bodies can or are more likely to get certain kinds of cancers from too much exposure, “they are also closer to the ground, where radioactive fallouts settle.”
Perkins, Ceri. "Dark Lightning Sheds Light on Gamma-ray Mystery." physicsworld.com. N.p., 17 Apr. 2013. Web. 7 Apr. 2014.
The X-ray was first discovered in 1895 by a German physicist named W.C. Roentgen (“The Discovery”). W.C. Roentgen was working in his lab one day in 1895 and decided to send a high electrical current through a cathode ray filled with special gas. He realized that a dim green colored light was being produced, and decided to hold the cathode ray just above his wife’s hand. When he did this he observed that the light was able to penetrate human skin, but would leave all the bones visible. There is a picture below of the X-ray of W.C. Roentgen’s wife’s hand (“The Discovery”). He named it the X-ray because he did not know the identity of what kind of ray it was. He just named it X, because of its use in solving unknowns in algebraic equations (“The Discovery”).
Fortunately, humans and animals on the surface of the Earth are largely protected by the Earth's atmosphere and by the Earth's magnetic field, which deflects low-energy cosmic rays away except over the polar regions. Some cosmic radiation does reach the surface of the Earth, and it is possible that people living at very high altitudes have a slightly higher risk of cancer because of this. Cosmic rays can seriously damage DNA. If DNA damage cannot be repaired by the cell, the cell could die. If the damage is copied into more cells, then a mutation could occur. Exposure to large amounts of cosmic rays could increase the risks not only for cancer, but cataracts and neurological disorders. Long term exposure to cosmic rays, or short intense bursts, could affect the evolution of life on Earth.
Zhang, B., & Mészáros, P. (2004). GAMMA-RAY BURSTS: PROGRESS, PROBLEMS & PROSPECTS. International Journal of Modern Physics A, 17, 223-241.
The beginnings of radiation therapy were a result of x-rays, first discovered by a German physicist named Wilhelm Roentgen in 1895. During experimentation with electricity, he found that certain types of energy were able to pass through his body and produce an image of his skeletal structure. Shortly after Roentgen’s discovery of how to produce x-rays, the medical potential of them was explored and used to diagnose health issues. The use of radiation was taken even further than x-rays by Emil Grubbe, who became the first radiation oncologist. Radiation oncology is the study of the therapeutic benefits of radiation. Grubbe earned this title because he was the first to propose using x-rays as treatment for breast cancer, and his experiment was accompanied by immense success. Many people followed Grubbe’s footsteps and became radiation oncologists. Methods for treatment improved in many areas from things like when dosage should be given, how much should be given per dose, and the ability to pinpoint and attack even the deepest cancerous tumors. After these improvements many radiation oncologists changed their focus to more specific treatments an...
Radiation is something that the naked eye cannot see, yet has the potential to save lives one treatment at a time or even one image at a time. Since the discovery of x-rays in 1895, it has branched out into numerous modalities each independently specializing in their own ways. X rays are used to aid in the diagnosis and treatments of patients on a case by case scenario. Sometimes doctors can make a diagnosis on the same day or conclude that a patient will require radiation therapy within weeks to follow. Whatever it may be, the importance of x rays and radiation itself is a crucial part of the medical field when it comes to saving lives. Initially it all started with the discovery of x rays but then three years later radiation therapy was introduced to aid with
Without this simple device, many lives would have been lost to fires. Along with smoke detectors, nuclear technology is also used in the wide world of medicine. Chemotherapy is one of the leading ways to combat cancer growth and is helping to extend the lives, and even curing, patients everywhere. While radiation in food production may at first sound like an off-putting idea, radiation is already being used to better grow the world’s farming capabilities by expanding many countries crop outputs. Nuclear technology is everywhere, and that is not a bad
Radiation has always been in everyday life even before Roentgen discovered x-ray. The mountains give off natural radiation, other forms of radiation are coal burning power plants, x-rays from a TV, and an airplane ride. The average dose from background radiation is about 360 mrem every year. There are two types of radiation, nonionizing and ionizing radiation. Examples of nonionizing radiation are microwaves and radio waves broadcasting. Ionizing radiation refers to gamma and x-rays. Ionizing radiation means that the rays are able to remove an electron from the atom then ions can be formed. The ions can cause damage when reacting with other atoms. Cells are able to be repaired if low dose are received. However, if cells get a high dose, the cells will be damaged or possibly die. If the cell is damaged permanently then it is referred to as a mutated cell.
Gamma rays are high-energy waves, and can travel long distances and penetrate human skin. However, they can be blocked by concrete, led, metal or even water.
How did the scientists of the early 20th century not realize that the radiation was causing their diseases and sudden deaths?
The safety of irradiation has been proven through the Food and Drug Administration dated back to 1963. In subsequent years, more food items have been approved for irradiation. It has been proven to be safe because foods that have been irradiated present no health hazards for foods that have been irradiated at a dose of up to10 kGy (gray per kilogram). Foods that have been irradiated are not radioactive as the beam of gamma rays pass through the
Rutherford was one of the first and most important researchers in nuclear physics. Soon after the discovery of radioactivity in 1986 by the French physicist Antoine Henri Becquerel, Rutherford discovered the three different types of radiation. By covering his Uranium with thin foils of aluminum, gradually increasing the number of foils. For the first three layers of foil the radiation escaping from the uranium decreased progressively, suggesting an ordinary law of absorption. More thickness of aluminum, however, had little further effect in reducing the radiation at first, but eventually the intensity of the radiation began to diminish again as even more foils were added. These experiments showed that there were at least two distinct types of radiation- one that is very readily absorbed, which he called the alpha - radiation, and the other more penetrative character which he called the beta - radiation. He also had believed that he had found a third more penetrating radiation. The Frenchman, Paul Villard, officially gave this third radiation. He named it, after Rutherford's first two radiation discoveries, the gamma- radiation. It was these discoveries in radiation that opened the door to the rest of Rutherford' discoveries.
Gamma radiation/emission – Gamma ray emission can be found when either alpha or beta decay occurs. Gamma rays are high energy electromagnetic rays. Gamma radiation is just the excess energy of the reaction being shed off, gamma rays do not effect mass numbers or atomic numbers. 6027Co 6028Ni + 0-1e + y
Radiation is one of the most dangerous and easiest way of having health effects. Radiation was first discovered by Roentgen. Hazards are the first things people need to know in order to understand what it can do to your body. It causes many health effects on everyone out in the world. It harms people in the dentistry and field and even in the medical field. Normal people out the world can also be exposed when coming into one of these offices and getting x-rays of some type.