Are they the same thing? Are they different? Is it a thing like all radioactivity is radiation but not all radiation is radioactivity? Thanks!
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First, there are two types of radiation: electromagnetic radiation and particle radiation. Anything can let off electromagnetic radiation (for example, burning something) but only nuclear reactions can release particle radiation (they can also release EM radiation.)
Anything that releases particle radiation is radioactive. Radioactive things emit particle radiation and become less radioactive over time, eventually emiting enough particles to become stable.
So, you can think of radioactive material as being like an unbalanced piece of matter that has too many pieces jammed into it. It wants to release those pieces to become more stable and balanced. When it releases a piece it goes flying off and potentially damaging things it hits… That’s particle radiation.
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