Energy
The standard unit of energy is the joule (J), but in atomic physics the electron-volt is often used (1eV = 1.6E-19 J).Emitted particles generally have an energy of a few million electron-volts (symbol: MeV).
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a 6 MeV alpha particle |
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a 2 MeV beta particle |
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a 1 MeV gamma ray. |
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"hard" gamma radiation (with high energy, e.g. a 1 MeV gamma ray), and |
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"soft" gamma radiation (with low energy, e.g. a 100 keV gamma ray). |