32.2 Biological Effects of Ionizing Radiation

Rads, grays, sieverts and rems compared, relative biological effectiveness by radiation type, and how absorbed dose translates into cell damage and risk.

College Physics 2e, 32.2 Biological Effects of Ionizing Radiation

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5 exercises

32.2 Exercise 1

A patient receives A rad of radiation as part of her treatment and absorbs E J of energy. The RBE of the radiation particles is R. If the RBE is increased to 1.5R, what will be the energy absorbed by the patient?

1.5E J
E J
0.75E J
0.67E J

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32.2 Exercise 10

What is the dose in mSv for: (a) a 0.1 Gy x-ray? (b) 2.5 mGy of neutron exposure to the eye? (c) 1.5 mGy of $\alpha$ exposure?

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32.2 Exercise 12

How many Gy of exposure is needed to give a cancerous tumor a dose of 40 Sv if it is exposed to $\alpha$ activity?

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32.2 Exercise 14

One half the $\gamma$ rays from $^{\text{99m}} \text{Tc}$ are absorbed by a 0.170-mm-thick lead shielding. Half of the $\gamma$ rays that pass through the first layer of lead are absorbed in a second layer of equal thickness. What thickness of lead will absorb all but one in 1000 of these $\gamma$ rays?

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32.2 Exercise 16

In the 1980s, the term picowave was used to describe food irradiation in order to overcome public resistance by playing on the well-known safety of microwave radiation. Find the energy in MeV of a photon having a wavelength of a picometer.

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