I get radiation is basically light…..some we some we don’t. And the more intense it is the worse it is. So if a thing has become radioactive, is it basically glowing? And how is that happening? What is the energy source?
In: Planetary Science
Radiation is a broad term covering different things that share some qualities but don’t share other qualities.
Generally if you split radiation into two smaller categories: waves and particles the concept becomes clearer.
Wave radiation is things like light. Light comes from many sources including things you are familiar with such as fires. All wave radiation moves at the speed of light. It behaves like a wave (but also sometimes like a particle.)
Particle radiation is things like alpha particles which are two protons and two neutrons. It’s a particle, the same things you learned about in chemistry. It does not move at the speed of light. It does not behave like a wave.
Pretty different things right?
Now, there’s some relationship between wave radiation and particle radiation when it comes to nuclear material. Nuclear material is unstable and tends to break apart over time. Some types of nuclear material when it breaks apart it releases particles like alpha particles. Some types release waves like xrays.
Two different types of things being released by one type of thing: radioactive material. But just because humans release carbon dioxide and feces as waste products doesn’t nessecarily mean that carbon dioxide and feces are the same thing or that they behave in some unified manner. In fact, they behave quite differently in some qualities. The same holds for wave radiation and particle radiation.
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