eli5 What is the difference between comic rays and nuclear ration?
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Co_S_mic rays come from the cosmos (from space). The name is usually used for high-energy protons and nuclei from stars (including the Sun). Nuclear ra_DIA_tion is in contrast radiation of any kind from nuclear reactions. That can include various particles and electromagnetic waves.
There are three kinds of nuclear radiation: alpha & beta, which are partial chunks of atoms, and gamma which is extremely high frequency electromagnetic waves. Because of how nuclear reactions work, you will always get the same three kinds of radiations out of it.
Cosmic rays is a more generally term, referring to both nuclear radiation from outside the atmosphere and to other partial chunks of atoms flying around in space.
Cosmic rays have MUCH more kinetic energy (millions of times that of the particles in the Large Hadron Collider), and are usually moving at around C.
Radiation from decay or fission usually is in one of four forms; Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Neutrons.
an Alpha particle is just a helium atom without its electrons (i.e two neutrons and two protons), a Beta particle is just an electron, a Gamma ray is a high energy photon, and Neutrons are self-explanatory.
Cosmic rays are primarily made of atomic nuclei without their electron shells, like the alpha particle, with the vast majority being hydrogen nuclei (i.e, just a proton) and most of the rest being alpha particles.
The main interesting thing about cosmic rays is their insane energy; they often have enough that, when colliding with the atmosphere, will spontaneously produce particles from its kinetic energy, with those resulting particles also producing more, for several iterations.
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