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A gamma ray, also known as gamma radiation (symbol γ), is a penetrating form of electromagnetic radiation arising from the radioactive decay of atomic nuclei.It consists of the shortest wavelength electromagnetic waves, typically shorter than those of X-rays.
Gamma radiation detected in an isopropanol cloud chamber. Gamma (γ) radiation consists of photons with a wavelength less than 3 × 10 −11 m (greater than 10 19 Hz and 41.4 keV). [4] Gamma radiation emission is a nuclear process that occurs to rid an unstable nucleus of excess energy after most nuclear reactions. Both alpha and beta particles ...
High-energy gamma rays (>50 MeV photons) were finally discovered in the primary cosmic radiation by an MIT experiment carried on the OSO-3 satellite in 1967. [48] Components of both galactic and extra-galactic origins were separately identified at intensities much less than 1% of the primary charged particles.
Likewise, gamma radiation and X-rays were found to be high-energy electromagnetic radiation. The relationship between the types of decays also began to be examined: For example, gamma decay was almost always found to be associated with other types of decay, and occurred at about the same time, or afterwards.
It has a half-life of 30 years, and decays by beta decay without gamma ray emission to a metastable state of barium-137 (137m Ba). Barium-137m has a half-life of a 2.6 minutes and is responsible for all of the gamma ray emission in this decay sequence. The ground state of barium-137 is stable. The photon energy (energy of a single gamma ray) of ...
Cs-134 has a half-life of 2 years and may be a major source of gamma radiation in the first 20 years after discharge. Caesium-135 is a long-lived fission product with much weaker radioactivity. Neutron capture inside the reactor transmutes much of the xenon-135 that would otherwise decay to Cs-135.
Gamma-ray spectroscopy is the qualitative study of the energy spectra of gamma-ray sources, such as in the nuclear industry, geochemical investigation, and astrophysics. [1] Gamma-ray spectrometry, on the other hand, is the method used to acquire a quantitative spectrum measurement. [2]
Radiation chemistry is a subdivision of nuclear chemistry which studies the chemical effects of ionizing radiation on matter. This is quite different from radiochemistry , as no radioactivity needs to be present in the material which is being chemically changed by the radiation.