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Secondly, he found the charge-to-mass ratio of alpha particles to be half that of the hydrogen ion. Rutherford proposed three explanations: 1) an alpha particle is a hydrogen molecule (H 2) with a charge of 1 e; 2) an alpha particle is an atom of helium with a charge of 2 e; 3) an alpha particle is half a helium atom with a charge of 1 e.
Computing the total disintegration energy given by the equation = (), where m i is the initial mass of the nucleus, m f is the mass of the nucleus after particle emission, and m p is the mass of the emitted (alpha-)particle, one finds that in certain cases it is positive and so alpha particle emission is possible, whereas other decay modes ...
Alpha particles consist of two protons and two neutrons bound together into a particle identical to a helium nucleus. Alpha particle emissions are generally produced in the process of alpha decay . Alpha particles are a strongly ionizing form of radiation, but when emitted by radioactive decay they have low penetration power and can be absorbed ...
The alpha particle is an especially strongly bound nucleus, helping it win the competition more often. [57]: 872 However some nuclei break up or fission into larger particles and artificial nuclei decay with the emission of single protons, double protons, and other combinations. [55] Beta decay transforms a neutron into proton or vice versa.
Alpha radiation is dangerous when alpha-emitting radioisotopes are inhaled or ingested (breathed or swallowed). This brings the radioisotope close enough to sensitive live tissue for the alpha radiation to damage cells. Per unit of energy, alpha particles are at least 20 times more effective at cell-damage than gamma rays and X-rays.
The half-life for radium 226 is approximately 1,620 years, and will remain in the body for the lifetime of the human — a significant length of time to cause damage. Beta particles are electrons or positrons and can travel farther than alpha particles in air. They are in the middle of the scale in terms of ionizing potential and penetrating ...
However, since alpha particles cannot traverse the outermost dead layer of human skin, they can do significant damage only if they come from the decay of atoms inside the body. Since the range of an alpha particle is typically about the diameter of a single eukaryotic cell, the precise location of the emitting atom in the tissue cells becomes ...
Many of these bit-flips would probably be attributable to hardware problems, but some could be attributed to alpha particles. [1] These bit-flip errors may be taken advantage of by malicious actors in the form of bitsquatting. Isaac Asimov received a letter congratulating him on an accidental prediction of alpha-particle RAM errors in a 1950s ...