Aren Berkenbush

ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM:GAMMA RAYS

-Paul Villard is credited with the discovery of the gamma ray.

-The gamma ray was discovered in 1990 while studying radiation emitted from radium.

HISTORY OF THE GAMMA RAY

FREQUENCY= 10 hertz or higher

WAVELENGTH= less than 10 meters

FREQUENCY & WAVELENGTH

-The gamma ray is used medically and commercially to kill cancer cells with radiotherapy

-Sterilization of food

-Sterilization of medical equipment

HOW IS IT USED?

Dictionary definition of Gamma Ray:

penetrating electromagnetic radiation of shorter wavelength

-They are the most energetic form of light

-Gamma rays have the shortest wavelengths and greatest energy

How do they work?

Gamma rays can be produced either as a result of a nuclear reaction or by the annihilation(destruction) of matter

WHAT ARE THEY?/HOW DO THEY WORK?

-A high energy particle can collide with another particle

-A charged particle can be accelerated

-An element can undergo radioactive decay

-A particle can collide and annihilate with its anti-particle

radioactive decay

HOW IS IT PRODUCED?

-Can be harmful to existing cells by causing cell damage

-Can cause cell mutations

-A living thing exposed to intense or prolonged gamma radiation can become seriously ill and die.

HEALTH RISKS/HAZARDS

-Wavelength- The distance between successive crests of a wave.

typical units: meters

-Frequency- The rate at which something occurs or is repeated over a particular period of time.

typical units: hertz

-Wavelength and Frequency are inversely related.

-Speed= Wavelength x Frequency

-A wave period is the time that it takes one crest of a wave to pass by a fixed point until the next crest passes the same fixed point.

-Period= 1 / frequency

WAVELENGTH/FREQUENCY INFO

-Amplitude: the maximum extent of a vibration or oscillation, measured from the position of equilibrium.

AMPLITUDE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okyynBaSOtA

VIDEO