Friday, April 26, 2019

Radiation Rays: Alpha, Beta, and Gamma

Source

The term "Rays" is really a misnomer.   Gamma rays are rays, alpha and beta "rays" are particles.  They get lumped together, but there is an important distinction.

It's like the difference between the sun's rays ( meaning light ) and solar "wind".  Solar wind is particles and solar "rays" is just sunlight ( plus some light that isn't visible ).  The difference is this: rays have no mass, but particles do.

The video doesn't make that clear enough, in my opinion.  There really shouldn't be any confusion about this distinction.





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