Why are bananas so radioactive?
In: Chemistry
bananas are high in potassium. radioactive isotope of potassium is very common and has a high half life of 1.25billion years. it doesn’t give off high amounts of radiation, it’s just abundant in the thing that does give off radiation in minute amounts.
>So radioactive
They’re not very radioactive at all. But they do contain potassium, which is slightly radioactive. Potassium is radioactive because… well, it just is. Some elements are stable some are radioactive, which just means they break down into other smaller elements in a way that gives off radiation of some sort. Some break down faster than others. Potassium breaks down VERY slowly, so it only gives off very little radiation. But not zero.
Also fun fact. Bannanas emit antimatter a little bit every now and then. From the potassium isotopes.
They’re not “so radioactive” to begin with. They’re about as radioactive as potatoes or carrots, and only slightly more radioactive than avocados, for example.
All of those things are slightly more radioactive than other foods because they contain slightly more potassium than other foods, but they’re still so low in radioactivity that it essentially means nothing. You’d have to eat 100 bananas every day to match the amount of radioactive exposure you normally get from just walking around.
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