Post AVzeXDMH0Y7bSt7h7g by psistarpsiii@tacobelllabs.net
(DIR) More posts by psistarpsiii@tacobelllabs.net
(DIR) Post #AVzeX7zkwq8gpbY8pc by psistarpsiii@tacobelllabs.net
2023-04-20T03:07:50Z
1 likes, 1 repeats
I remember reading about ionizing radiation as a kid and learning, oh alpha particles can be stopped by a sheet of paper, a little plastic can stop beta particles, gamma rays are the most scary ones because you need a big chunk of lead to stop them. (also they’re the most 🤘.)Thinking about it now, after way too many years of chemistry and physics, it hits a little different.
(DIR) Post #AVzeX9m0KwKMLX8Bfs by psistarpsiii@tacobelllabs.net
2023-04-20T03:38:11Z
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That alpha particle is a helium nucleus. Didn’t sound that scary to me as a kid. Paper blocks it. And helium is harmless unless you breathe it in, right?WRONG. It is ONLY the nucleus. That fucker wants your electrons, doesn’t really care which element they came from, it is going to take them. 54 eV? Not fucking around. Put an alpha particle and a fluoride ion in a cage match, alpha’s going to win. TWICE.
(DIR) Post #AVzeXAriHCUJjWoGDA by psistarpsiii@tacobelllabs.net
2023-04-20T03:40:07Z
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Something that can turn F- into F+ should scare you. Imagine all the bizarre and unprecedented reactivity that can kick off!
(DIR) Post #AVzeXC9TUeI1iu7xXE by psistarpsiii@tacobelllabs.net
2023-04-20T03:52:32Z
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Then there’s beta particles. High energy tiny charged things. Yeah, you can probably stop them with a credit card, sure. And β− decay doesn’t sound THAT bad. I mean, I used to be an organic chemist, I’ve pushed around a lot of electrons. 14C’s β electrons are like 10x the energy of an electron in a CRT display. Eh.
(DIR) Post #AVzeXDMH0Y7bSt7h7g by psistarpsiii@tacobelllabs.net
2023-04-20T03:53:46Z
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β+ decay, though, is giving off particles of LITERAL FUCKING ANTIMATTER. 🤯
(DIR) Post #AVzeXEZ4WRxBCs7Qi8 by psistarpsiii@tacobelllabs.net
2023-04-20T04:09:25Z
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But a gamma ray is just a photon… kind of a nasty photon. I really don’t advise absorbing too many of them because WHO FUCKING KNOWS what that will do. Like, I spent a few years with X-rays. Lower energy, so a little less scary, but still pretty scary - they can kick off Meitner electrons and all. (We don’t recognize Auger in this house.)
(DIR) Post #AVzeXFcIbw84TAdWNc by psistarpsiii@tacobelllabs.net
2023-04-20T04:16:49Z
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That’s where you absorb a photon and it SNIPES ONE OF YOUR PRECIOUS INNER ELECTRONS. Not the valence. Right on down in the core, leaving a hole. And nature abhors a void, right? So *another* electron goes to fill its place, and releases a lot of energy. So much so that a THIRD electron just decides to peace out and fly away.
(DIR) Post #AVzeXH0RRf2EmKwJeK by psistarpsiii@tacobelllabs.net
2023-04-20T04:31:02Z
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Or maybe instead of an electron another, less energetic photon is emitted. Or…it can get weirder…high enough energy gamma rays can do something called pair production. This is wild. Matter and antimatter suddenly popping into existence out of nowhere. From a *photon*, a little massless nothing.
(DIR) Post #AVzeXIUbuylHOC3vJQ by psistarpsiii@tacobelllabs.net
2023-04-20T04:37:26Z
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But it takes a pretty high energy gamma ray to really do that. You know what can emit those?40K. Potassium goddamn 40. Which is naturally occurring, by the way - you know how we like to say bananas are a little radioactive? That’s because of 40K. Your goddamn breakfast fruit is technically capable of creating its own particles and antiparticles.