gamma ray

(noun)

High-energy wave of electromagnetic energy.

Related Terms

  • spectrum
  • photon
  • electromagnetic radiation
  • beta particle
  • alpha particle
  • isotope

(noun)

Electromagnetic radiation of high frequency and therefore high energy per photon.

Related Terms

  • spectrum
  • photon
  • electromagnetic radiation
  • beta particle
  • alpha particle
  • isotope

Examples of gamma ray in the following topics:

  • Electromagnetic Spectrum

    • Frequencies observed in astronomy range from 2.4×1023 Hz (1 GeV gamma rays) down to the local plasma frequency of the ionized interstellar medium (~1 kHz).
    • Generally, electromagnetic radiation is classified by wavelength into radio wave, microwave, terahertz (or sub-millimeter) radiation, infrared, the visible region we perceive as light, ultraviolet, X-rays, and gamma rays.
    • Gamma rays: Energetic ejection of core electrons in heavy elements, Compton scattering (for all atomic numbers), excitation of atomic nuclei, including dissociation of nuclei.
    • High-energy gamma rays: Creation of particle-antiparticle pairs.
    • Dr Atkinson soon moved on to the un-needed gamma rays and improved them to delta rays!
  • Modes of Radioactive Decay

    • Alpha particles carry a positive charge, beta particles carry a negative charge, and gamma rays are neutral.
    • Likewise, gamma radiation and X-rays were found to be similar high-energy electromagnetic radiation.
    • Some decay reactions release energy in the form of electromagnetic waves called gamma rays.
    • However, unlike visible light, humans cannot see gamma rays, because they have a much higher frequency and energy than visible light.
    • Gamma rays can only be reduced by much more substantial mass, such as a very thick layer of lead.
  • The Electromagnetic Spectrum

    • This electromagnetic spectrum ranges from very short wavelengths (including gamma and x-rays) to very long wavelengths (including microwaves and broadcast radio waves).
  • Isotopes

    • The new atoms created may be in a high energy state and emit gamma rays which lowers the energy but alone does not change the atom into another isotope.
    • Carbon-14 (14C) is a naturally-occurring radioisotope that is created from atmospheric 14N (nitrogen) by the addition of a neutron and the loss of a proton, which is caused by cosmic rays.
  • Nuclear Binding Energy and Mass Defect

    • When a large nucleus splits into pieces, excess energy is emitted as photons, or gamma rays, and as kinetic energy, as a number of different particles are ejected.
  • Determining Atomic Structures by X-Ray Crystallography

    • X-ray crystallography is a method of determining the arrangement of atoms within molecules.
    • X-ray crystallography is a method for determining the arrangement of atoms within a crystal structure.
    • The crystal is typically rotated with respect to different axes and shot again with X-rays, so that diffraction patterns from all angles of the X-rays hitting the crystal are recorded.
    • When bombarded with x-ray radiation, crystals exhibit a characteristic diffraction pattern.
    • An X-ray diffraction pattern of a crystallized protein molecule.
  • Cathode Rays

    • Electrons were first discovered as the constituents of cathode rays.
    • These were the cathode rays.
    • Eugene Goldstein named them cathode rays.
    • It was used in discovery of cathode rays.
    • Connect the two electrodes to a high voltage source and see them produce cathode rays.
  • Discovery of Radioactivity

    • This means that rays carry energy, but pitchblende emits them continuously without any energy input.
    • It was soon evident that Becquerel's rays originated in the nuclei of the atoms.
    • The emission of these rays is called nuclear radioactivity, or simply radioactivity.
    • The rays are called nuclear radiation.
    • In 1898, Marie Curie began her doctoral study of Becquerel's rays.
  • Elemental Boron

    • Boron is produced by cosmic ray spallation, is a metalloid, and is essential to life.
    • Boron is produced entirely by cosmic ray spallation (as a result of nuclear reactions), and not by stellar nucleosynthesis (not within stars as a result of fusion or supernovae).
  • Substitution of the Hydroxyl Hydrogen

    • Five-membered (gamma) and six-membered (delta) lactones are most commonly formed.
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