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Wired

What’s commonly called ‘radiation’ is actually a special type: ionizing radiation

Wired
Summary
Nutrition label

61% Informative

When a material is radioactive, it emits energy either as particles or electromagnetic waves.

There are four types of ionizing radiation: alpha, beta, gamma, and neutron radiation.

For many of the sources you encounter in everyday life, the amount of radiation is so low that you don’t need to worry about it.

In 1899 , Ernest Rutherford classified three types of radiation: alpha, beta, and gamma.

Gamma rays are the third class of radiation, and a type of electromagnetic wave.

Alpha radiation is often considered to be the least harmful of the radiation types.

Neutron radiation is a fourth type of ionizing radiation, but with neutron radiation a neutron is ejected from a radioactive nucleus.

You might have a radiation detector right in your pocket.

It's possible to use a smartphone to detect gamma rays (and x-rays) It's just like that Geiger counter in a watch that James Bond used in the movie Thunderball .

The most common tool for this is a photomultiplier tube.

VR Score

48

Informative language

43

Neutral language

41

Article tone

informal

Language

English

Language complexity

46

Offensive language

not offensive

Hate speech

not hateful

Attention-grabbing headline

detected

Known propaganda techniques

not detected

Time-value

long-living

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