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Medical physics

The document discusses nuclear radiation, detailing its types: alpha rays, beta rays, and gamma rays. It explains the properties and behaviors of each type, including their ionization and penetration powers, as well as their potential dangers to human health. The document highlights the historical discoveries associated with each type of radiation and the mechanisms of their emission during radioactive decay.

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Sunia Zafar
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11 views

Medical physics

The document discusses nuclear radiation, detailing its types: alpha rays, beta rays, and gamma rays. It explains the properties and behaviors of each type, including their ionization and penetration powers, as well as their potential dangers to human health. The document highlights the historical discoveries associated with each type of radiation and the mechanisms of their emission during radioactive decay.

Uploaded by

Sunia Zafar
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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MEDICAL PHYSICS

DR. MISBAH MARIAM


DPT (RMU)
MS-NMPT (RIU)
Nuclear
Waves:
 Nuclear radiation is defined as energy particles or rays tat are
given off from radioactive element such as uranium as it decays
 They can also be produced as a result of nuclear fission
Types:
1.Alpha rays
2.Beta rays
3.Gamma rays
Alpha Particle
 Ernest Rutherford, an English scientist, discovered alpha
particles in 1899 while working with uranium. Rutherford's
studies contributed to our understanding of the atom and its
nucleus through the Rutherford-Bohr planetary model of the
atom.
 Alpha particle is produced by the alpha decay of a radioactive
nucleus. Because nucleus is unstable, a piece of it is ejected
allowing nucleus to reach a more stable state.
 The piece that is ejected is alpha particle which is made up of
two protons and two neutrons. (Helium atom)
Equation;

• Alpha decay only occurs in very heavy elements such as uranium,


thorium and radium. The nuclei of these atoms are very “neutron rich”
(i.e. have a lot more neutrons in their nucleus than they do protons)
which makes emission of the alpha particle possible.
Properties
 Alpha rays or alpha particles are the positively charged particles. A
highly energetic helium nucleus which contains two protons and two
neutrons is called the alpha-particle.
 Alpha particles have the least penetration power but the greatest
ionization power. They cannot penetrate the skin but this does not
mean that they are not dangerous.
 Since they have a great ionization power, so if they get into the body
they can cause serious damage.
 They have the ability of ionizing numerous atoms I a short distance.
It is due to this reason that the radioactive substance that releases
alpha particles needs to be handled with rubber gloves.
 It should not be inhaled, eaten or allowed near open cuts.
Beta Particle:
 Henri Becquerel is credited with the discovery of beta
particles. In 1900, he showed that beta particle were
identical to electrons, which had recently been
discovered by Joseph John Thompson.
 Beta particle, also called beta ray or beta
radiation (symbol β), is a high-energy, high-speed
electron or positron emitted by the radioactive decay of
an atomic nucleus during the process of beta decay.
 There are two forms of beta decay
 β− decay which produce electrons
 β+ decay which produce positrons respectively
Types of Beta-Decay

 β− decay (electron emission)- An unstable atomic nucleus


with an excess of neutrons may undergo β− decay, where a
neutron is converted into a proton, an electron and an electron
type anti-neutrino (the antiparticle of the neutrino):
 n → p + e− + ν

 β+ decay (positron emission)-Unstable atomic nuclei with an


excess of protons may undergo β+ decay, also called positron
decay, where a proton is converted into a neutron, a positron and
an electron-type neutrino:
 p → n + e+ + ν
Equation
Properties
 Beta particles are highly energetic electrons which are released
from inside of a nucleus.
 They are negatively charged and have a negligible mass. Since they
have a great ionization power, so if they get into the body they can
cause serious damage.
 On the emission of a beta particle, a neutron in the nucleus divides
into a proton and an electron. The beta particle is thus the electron
that is rejected from the nucleus at high
 Beta particles have a greater penetration power than the alpha
particles and can easily travel through the skin.
 Though beta particles have less ionization power than the alpha
particles but still they are dangerous and so their contact with the
body must be avoided.
Gamma Rays
 Gamma rays are produced in the disintegration of
radioactive atomic nuclei and in the decay of certain
subatomic particles
 When an unstable atomic nucleus decays into a more stable
nucleus the “daughter” nucleus is sometimes produced in an
excited state.
 In particle-particle collision, a high-energy proton, or
cosmic ray, strikes another proton or atomic nucleus.
This collision produces, among other things, one or more
neutral pi mesons (or pions). These are unstable particles that
decay into a pair of gamma rays.
 Equation:
Properties

 The waves from the high frequency end of the electromagnetic


spectrum which do not have any mass are called the gamma rays.
 They have greatest power of penetration. They are the least
ionizing but most penetrating and it is extremely difficult to stop
them from entering the body.
 These rays carry huge amount of energy and can even travel
through thin lead and thick concrete.
Thank You

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