Whati

sGammar
ay?

Gammar aysareaf orm ofhigh-energyelect

romagnet icradiat
ionthati
sproduceddur i
ng
cert
ainnucl earreacti
onsandr adioact
ivedecaypr ocesses.Theyhavetheshortest
wavelengt hsandhi ghestfrequenciesintheelectromagneticspect
rum, makingthem hi
ghly
energetic.Gammar ayshavewavel engthsshorterthan10^-11metersandfrequenci
esabove
30x1 0^1 8hertz.TheEuropeanSpaceAgencydes cr
ibeshowgamma- rayphotonshave
energiesinexces sof100,000el ectr
onvolt
s(eV).

Whodi
scover
edGammar
ay?

Thediscoveryofgammaraysisatt
ribut
edtoPaulUlri
chVil
l
ard,
aFrenchchemistand
physi
ci
s t
.Vil
lar
dmadet hi
sdi
scoveryin1900whil
estudyi
ngtheradi
oacti
vedecayofradium.
Duri
nghi sexperi
ment
s,heobser
vedanewt ypeofpenet
rati
ngradi
ati
onthatwasmor e
powerfulthanbothal
phaandbetar adi
ati
on.

Us
es/
appl
i
cat
ion:

-gamma- r
aycanbeus
edi
nmedi
cal
imagi
ngandus
edt
otr
eatcanceri
napr
oces
sknown
asradi
otherapy

-s
ter
il
izemedi
cal
equi
pment

-s
ter
il
izef
ood

-nucl
earr
eact
ion

•gammar
ayscanki
l
lmi
croor
gani
smswi
thoutcaus
inganyot
herdamage

formedicalequipmenttheotheropt
ionwoul dbeus eboi
l
ingwatertoboi
lequipmentandki
l
l
anyharmf ulmicrobesi
nhightemperatures
(itcan'
tbeuseall
theti
mebecaus esomeli
ke
plas
ticmightgetdamagedast heymelt.

f
ors
ter
il
izef
oodi
t'
sthes
amet
hati
tki
l
lsal
loft
hehar
mful
micr
obes
.

•Equi
pment
sthatus
edGammar
ay

“
PETScan”,
gammacamer
a

-APET(pos
itr
onemi
ssi
ont
omogr
aphy)s
cani
sani
magi
ngt
estt
hatus
esr
adi
oact
ive
mater
ial
todi
agnos
eavar
iet
yofdi
seas
es.
Doct
orsus
eitt
ofi
ndt
umour
s,di
agnos
ehear
tdi
seas
e,
brai
n

di
sor
der
sandot
hercondi
ti
ons
.

-t
hegammacamer
a,al
socal
l
eds
cint
il
lat
ioncamer
a,i
sthemos
tcommonl
yus
edi
magi
ng

devi
cei
nnucl
earmedi
ci
ne.

*Di
ff
erencebet
weent
hem ,

APETs
cani
nvol
vest
hei
nject
ionofar
adi
onucl
i
det
raceri
ntot
hepat
ient
'sbody.
However
,

unl
ikeagammacamer a,
whi
chdetect
sgammar aysemi
tt
edbythetracer
,aPETscanus
es
adetectort
odet
ectt
heanni
hil
ati
onofpos
itr
ons
,whichar
eproducedwhenthetr
acer
decays.

radi
onucl
idetracer-imagi
ngtechni
quet hatus
esasmal
ldos eofaradioacti
vechemical
(i
sot
ope)call
edat racert
hatcandetectcancer
,tr
auma,i
nfecti
onorotherdisor
ders.
anni
hil
ati
onofpos it
rons-Posi
tr
onhast hesamemassands pi
nastheel ect
ron,buthast
he
opposi
techarge.

Danger
sofexpos
uret
oGammar
ay

Exposuret
ogammar ayspos
essignif
icanthealt
hr i
sks,i
ncludi
ngcell
ulardamage, an
i
ncreasedri
skofcancer,t
hepot
entialforacuteradiat
ionsyndrome,andl ong-t
erm heal
th
eff
ects,wi
thpregnantwomenanddevel opingfetusesbeingpart
icul
ar l
yvulnerabl
e.

Q&A

1
.WhatAr
eGammaRays
?

A.
nat
ural
radi
oact
ivi
ty

B.
magnet
icf
orcet
hathol
dsdowngr
avi
ty

C.
elect
romagnet
icr
adi
ati
on

D.
mechani
cal
wavet
hatt
ravel
swi
thamedi
um
2.
Whodi
scover
edGammar
ays
?

A.
Paul
Ulr
ichVi
l
lar
d

B.
Ernes
trut
her
for
d

C.
Hei
nri
chRudol
fHer
tz

D.
Geor
gSi
monOhm

3.
Whatar
ethedanger
sofexpos
uret
ogammar
ays
?

A.
Gammar
ayscanbeus
edasaf
orm oft
her
apyt
otr
eatvar
iousi
l
lnes
ses

B.
Gammar
ayshavenoef
fectont
hehumanbody

C.
Exposur
etogammar ayscancausedamaget ocel
l
sandDNA,
leadi
ngt
oan
i
ncreas
edris
kofcancerandotherheal
thi
ssues
.

D.
Expos
uret
ogammar
ayscani
mpr
oveover
all
heal
thandwel
l
-bei
ng

4.
Whati
stheus
ageofgammar
ay?

a.
Broadcas
t

b.
Ster
il
izef
oodandmedi
cal
equi
pment

c.
Heat
ing

d.
Communi
cat
ion