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A gamma ray, also known as gamma radiation (symbol γ), is a penetrating form of electromagnetic radiation arising from high energy interactions like the radioactive decay of atomic nuclei or astronomical events like solar flares.
Radioactive decay (also known as nuclear decay, radioactivity, radioactive disintegration, or nuclear disintegration) is the process by which an unstable atomic nucleus loses energy by radiation. A material containing unstable nuclei is considered radioactive. Three of the most common types of decay are alpha, beta, and gamma decay.
However, if the mineral contains traces of potassium, then decay of the 40 K isotope present will create fresh argon-40 that will remain locked up in the mineral. Since the rate at which this conversion occurs is known, it is possible to determine the elapsed time since the mineral formed by measuring the ratio of 40 K and 40 Ar atoms contained ...
The decay scheme of a radioactive substance is a graphical presentation of all the transitions occurring in a decay, and of their relationships. Examples are shown below. It is useful to think of the decay scheme as placed in a coordinate system, where the vertical axis is energy, increasing from bottom to top, and the horizontal axis is the proton number, increasing from left to right.
The predicted double beta decay of 160 Gd has never been observed (an experimental lower limit on its half-life of more than 1.3×10 21 years has been measured [21]). Thirty-three radioisotopes of gadolinium have been observed, with the most stable being 152 Gd (naturally occurring), with a half-life of about 1.08×10 14 years, and 150 Gd, with ...
The activity of a sample decreases with time because of decay. The rules of radioactive decay may be used to convert activity to an actual number of atoms. They state that 1 Ci of radioactive atoms would follow the expression N (atoms) × λ (s −1) = 1 Ci = 3.7 × 10 10 Bq, and so N = 3.7 × 10 10 Bq / λ, where λ is the decay constant in s ...
The first printed edition of the Karlsruhe Nuclide Chart of 1958 in the form of a wall chart was created by Walter Seelmann-Eggebert and his assistant Gerda Pfennig. Walter Seelmann-Eggebert was director of the Radiochemistry Institute in the 1956 founded "Kernreaktor Bau- und Betriebsgesellschaft mbH" in Karlsruhe, Germany (a predecessor institution of the later "(Kern-)Forschungszentrum ...
243 Cm with a ~30-year half-life and good energy yield of ~1.6 W/g could be a suitable fuel, but it gives significant amounts of harmful gamma and beta rays from radioactive decay products. As an α-emitter, 244 Cm needs much less radiation shielding, but it has a high spontaneous fission rate, and thus a lot of neutron and gamma radiation.