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United States24805 Posts
You have four cookies. Cookies 1-4 emit the following types of ionizing radiation respectively:
- gamma rays
- alpha particles (Helium nucleus)
- neutrons
- beta particles (electrons)
Of the above four cookies, you must eat one (Do not actually try this at home). You may throw only one in the garbage. You must place one cookie in your pocket, and you must hold one cookie in your hand. What do you do with each cookie?
(You may take each action exactly once)
Poll: Gamma Cookie?(Vote): Eat It
(Vote): Trash It
(Vote): Put in Pocket
(Vote): Hold in Hand
Poll: Alpha Cookie?(Vote): Eat It
(Vote): Trash It
(Vote): Put in Pocket
(Vote): Hold in Hand
Poll: Neutron Cookie?(Vote): Eat It
(Vote): Trash It
(Vote): Put in Pocket
(Vote): Hold in Hand
Poll: Beta Cookie?(Vote): Eat It
(Vote): Trash It
(Vote): Put in Pocket
(Vote): Hold in Hand
Assuming your objective is to remain healthy, why would you choose to eat the one you did? Which one did you trash? Feel free to put all four choices in your reply (in addition to completing the optional polls) alongside your reasoning.
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I know pretty much nothing about radiation, but IIRC, gamma radiation will probably give you cancer, and electrons can simple be stopped by aluminum foil. Am I allowed to wrap the beta particle cookie in aluminum foil before putting it in my pocket? I have no clue what alpha particles or neutrons does to people.
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Canada11355 Posts
I ate them all, wish me luck
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eat: mmh, i think eating the gamma one wouldnt be that bad
hand: alpha, as it shouldnt get through your skin
pocket: beta, should be resonably safe
trash: neutrons, most dangerous along side alpha and have greater range
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United States24805 Posts
On June 03 2015 09:39 Paljas wrote:
eat: mmh, i think eating the gamma one wouldnt be that bad
hand: alpha, as it shouldnt get through your skin
pocket: beta, should be resonably safe
trash: neutrons, most dangerous along side alpha and have greater range
Wow, really good. The other thing about the gamma cookie is that, if you hold the gamma source in your hand or pocket, it can still penetrate your body anyway! As you surmised, your clothing will be able to stop the beta particles, and your skin alone is sufficient to stop alphas (if they even make it through the air to your body).
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Canada16217 Posts
eat: gamma cookie
trash: alpha cookie
put in pocket: neutron - i was going to trash this one but clicked the wrong option
hold in hand: beta
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I'm not surprised that you would make a blog like this
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Im confused. I should know this seriously. Why am i not paying attention at university?
To me the rule of thumb i remember was: The smaller the harder to stop. The harder to stop the more dangerous.
Now lets think here:
Neutrons > Protons > Electrons > Light particles
Or in other words:
Gamma should be more dangerous than everything else, therefor i trash that one. I'd eat the neutrons one, based on the assumptions that Neutrons are bigger than a nucleus is. Hold alpha in hand and put beta in my pocket.
Suprise me. :D
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United States24805 Posts
On June 03 2015 11:03 NoSoldier wrote:
Im confused. I should know this seriously. Why am i not paying attention at university?
To me the rule of thumb i remember was: The smaller the harder to stop. The harder to stop the more dangerous.
There are basically two things to consider. Like you said, the harder to stop the radiation is, the worse. However, you also have to consider what the effect will be if the radiation does interact with the body... which type of radiation has a more severe biological damage capability (quality factor)?
Now lets think here:
Neutrons > Protons > Electrons > Light particles
Or in other words:
Gamma should be more dangerous than everything else
Although they have a high ability to penetrate (bad), they have a less severe effect on tissue than other types of radiation, actually.
, therefor i trash that one. I'd eat the neutrons one
Actually, since neutrons are not charged, they are hard to stop too (like gammas). Unlike gammas, neutrons wreck havoc on biology.
based on the assumptions that Neutrons are bigger than a nucleus is.
This is an aside, but neutrons are not bigger than a nucleus.
Hold alpha in hand and put beta in my pocket.
This is good. Beta is more penetrable than alphas, so you want to put it in your pocket where clothing will block it. Alphas barely penetrate anything so you can hold them in your hand (you definitely wouldn't want to eat them because then they could get access to the inside of your body).
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Hey im dead! ^_^
Good this is only theory. :D
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United States24805 Posts
Haha don't worry eating a few neutrons probably wouldn't kill you :p
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Lets hope it is not a supersized american cookie then!
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ALLEYCAT BLUES51702 Posts
ate gamma, trashed alpha, put neutron in hand and beta in pocket.
now I have cancer/dead.
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eat: gamma
trash: neutron
pocket: alpha
hand: beta
Would rather put the least penetrative one near ones most vulnerable organ :p
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Eat: Gamma (toss up between gamma and neutron for least damaging while inside you)
Trash: Alpha (that stuff will break you apart)
Pocket: Neutron (see Gamma)
Hand: Beta (Extremities are pretty resilient to radiation).
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Eat : Gamma, because you need repeated exposure from it, to get a high enough dose to actually develop any tumors/complaints.
Trash : Neutron, because these do more irrevocable damage to the DNA than Alpha or Beta does.
Pocket : Alpha, because it won't go through your clothes. The radiation may very well not even penetrate the cookie itself.
Hand : Beta, this will probably do some damage to your hand, but we're here to remain healthy. A healthy person can withstand some damage onto the hand, however when you do beta in your pocket, it may - or may not - go through the clothes. If it does go through the clothes, my testicles will be damaged and It's possible that I can't procreate anymore, which means that I'm not healthy anymore. Whereas if I have a damaged hand, I can still do all my necessary functions.
edit; as my gf just described this :
"you better protect your balls than your hands so you put that alpha cookie in your pocket"
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trash: neutron (don't want to go making other things radioactive)
hold in hand: alpha (doesn't penetrate skin)
put in pocket: beta (most will be blocked by clothing and skin, and won't get to any of the really juicy organs, especially if it's something other than a front pocket on a man planning on having biological children
eat: gamma (total deposited dose is the lowest)
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you didn't specify the most important thing, their energies/number/activity, so it's kinda difficult to answer.
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United States24805 Posts
On June 04 2015 07:22 quirinus wrote:
you didn't specify the most important thing, their energies/number/activity, so it's kinda difficult to answer.
This is true. You are forced to make assumptions with the goal of minimizing negative impact to your health. Without more information, which one would you eat?
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Canada11355 Posts
So am I dead right away from eating all four or do I get cool powers?
Or do I just get cancer and it sucks for a long time?
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EPT![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/kqZB6by.png)
