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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Radiation refers to energy or particles being emitted from a source and spreading out (radiating).
Radioactivity refers to a specific source of radiation, where atomic nuclei that are not stable break apart, and release radiation in the process.
Light is a kind of radiation, but it doesn’t require atomic decay to be produced, it can be made by chemical changes or heat as well.
If you think of radiation as being similar to noise, then something tfragile hat falls apart and makes a crashing noise is similar to a radioactive substance. A really loud noise can cause damage, and if there are lots of fragile noisy things close together, then one breaking noise could cause other things nearby to break, producing a chain reaction of noise and crashing.
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