Would a gamma ray burst kill us instantly?

These are among the most deadly radiation known. If a person happened to be near a gamma-ray producing object, they’d be fried in an instant. Certainly, a gamma-ray burst could affect life’s DNA, causing genetic damage long after the burst is over.

How harmful are gamma rays?

The extremely high energy of gamma rays allows them to penetrate just about anything. They can even pass through bones and teeth. This makes gamma rays very dangerous. They can destroy living cells, produce gene mutations, and cause cancer.

What is the half life of gamma decay?

Gamma decay. Typical half-lives for gamma emission are immeasurably short (from about 10 -9 to 10 −14 second). When the half-lives for gamma emission are measurable, the nucleus in the higher energy state before radiating a photon and the one in the lower energy state are called nuclear isomers. See also isomer.

Why do we use the half-life of a radioactive isotope?

Some of its unstable nuclei decay in a short time, while others decay much later. So, we use the time in which half of any of these unstable nuclei will decay. The half-life of a radioactive isotope is the time taken for half the unstable nuclei in a sample to decay. Different isotopes have different half-lives.

What are unstable nuclei that undergo gamma decay?

The unstable nuclei that undergo gamma decay are the products either of other types of radioactivity (alpha and beta decay) or of some other nuclear process, such as neutron capture in a nuclear reactor. These product nuclei have more than their normal energy, which they lose in discrete amounts as gamma-ray photons…

What is the percent yield of gamma energy per decay?

Gamma Energy (KeV) Nuclide Half-Life Percent Yield per decay 88 Cd-109  /  Ag-109m 453 days / 40 seconds 5 88 Lu-176m 3.7 hours 10 91 Nd-147 11.1 days 28 93 Th-234 24.1 days