Let us begin with answering the question on what is radiation? In the most basic sense, radiation is source of energy that is capable of going through any object and can be absorbed by said object. Plenty of people imagine that radiation is some kind of rock that glows green and cause profound effects to the human body and the environment. There is some truth to that but radiation is something more than what comic books tell us.
To help us further understand what is radiation, let us know the two kinds of radiation. The first one is called ionizing radiation and is the most commonly referred kind of radiation. Ionizing radiation is a kind of radiation that has minute particles with their own energy supply that has the ability to take away an electron from a molecule or atom. The by-product of this removal is called free radicals and these are known to cause some biological effects on the human body and also the environment.
non ionizing radiation on the other hand is the exact opposite of ionizing radiation. It does not have enough energy to take away an electron instead it has sufficient energy to excite the electrons. This excitation also produces some effects to the body. Some examples of non-ionizing radiation are visible light, infrared, microwaves and radio waves.
In the face of the many possible health threats in the use of radiation, the world still needs and has many uses for it. In medicine, it is used in diagnostics, treatments and medical research. A common example is the x-ray and CT-scan which use radiation to visualize bones and body parts. Another medical application for radiation is treatment for cancer and is known as radiation therapy.
Radiation has also found its way in communication. All types of recent telecommunication systems and devices use electromagnetic radiation to send out data. It is the difference of intensity of the radiation that helps deliver that data into an understandable form like pictures and sounds. Another application is in the field of science. Science also has many uses with this kind of energy especially in the determining the age of an object through the process known as carbon dating.
But the most famous use of radiation is nuclear radiation. This kind of energy can bestow enormous amounts of energy and also devastating power. Nuclear energy has been used to power many countries all over the world and also sophisticated military equipment like the modern submarine.The world has also seen the destructive power of the nuclear energy when the atomic bomb plowed through Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Indeed, radiation is both helpful and harmful for humankind. It is just a matter of how to use it properly.
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