Radiation (Nuclear Chemistry)

                When most people think of radiation, they think of mushroom clouds, nuclear reactors, and x-rays. While radiation does include the aforementioned examples, it encompasses a much broader list of things. In physics the term radiation is broadly defined as, energy in the form of waves or certain particles, such as those that make up alpha radiation. There are two main categories of radiation, non-ionizing radiation and Ionizing radiation. The main difference between the two are their ability to harm living organisms.

Ionization by removal of electron

                 As stated by it’s the name, ionizing radiation is form of radiation that has the energy capable of making ions. This type of radiation mainly includes the higher frequencies of ultraviolet light, x-rays, alpha particles, beta particles, and gamma rays. For these to create ions, they must collide with atoms or molecules in turn depositing its energy, either  causing bonds to break or causing the movement or removal of electrons. This form of radiation is evidently very dangerous as it can possibly interact with strands  

Dose (in mrem)	Effect
25,000 to 100,000	Temporary blood changes
100,000	Double the normal incidence of wogenetic defects
100,000 to 200,000	Vomiting, diarrhea, reduction in infection resistance, possible bone growth retardation in children
200,000 to 300,000	Serious radiation sickness, nausea
300,000 to 400,000	Bone marrow and intestine destruction
400,000 to 1 million	Acute illness and early death (usually within days)

of DNA. These effects come in two different categories, threshold effects and non-threshold effect. As shown by the chart on the left, threshold effects occur when the radiation dosage reaches a certain point. And the effects cannot apply to any dosage below the threshold. Conversely, non-threshold effects are able to occur at low levels of radiation. The most observed effect under this category is cancer. Though cancer can occur with low doses, it is much more likely with increasing levels of exposure.

The subcategory of non-ionizing radiation, as compared to its counterpart, ranges greatly from sound waves and gravitational waves to microwaves, infrared and visible light, and the lower energy frequencies of ultraviolet light. These are categorized together as they do not have enough energy to ionize matter. All of these are mostly not recognized by the general public as radiation, but they are in use in many of our everyday appliances such as microwaves, WiFi, radios, and the visible spectrum of light which causes color to be perceived.
Another type of non-ionizing radiation that I did not name is blackbody radiation, and these are very interesting for multiple reasons. Firstly, a blackbody is an object that can theoretically absorb and release all frequencies of radiation. Since the ideal blackbody should absorb all radiation, it should be black as the name suggests. A blackbody in practice though will not stay completely black though as absorbing high amounts of radiation should cause the object to glow. A blackbody should theoretically be able to release all types of radiation, categorized as blackbody radiation, but in application most blackbodies will only emit thermal energy, which is what causes the glow. The exceptions to this rule are black holes. These are the one and only blackbody that will emit the full spectrum of radiation. This works because of particles and antiparticles such as electrons and positrons, muons and animuons, etc. Theoretically, throughout the universe particle-antiparticle pairs are created spontaneously, but we cannot observe them as they instantly annihilate each other. Because the pairs are thought to only exist for instants they can neither be confirmed or denied, deeming it the title of theory as a consequence of the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principal. This all changes however if a particle pair is created near the event horizon of a black hole. As shown by the image above, when a pair is created near the horizon, it is possible for one particle to pass over while the other is able to escape. This therefore is able to create radiation while removing some mass from the black hole, showing that black holes can decay and eventually completely evaporate.                                                                                                                                                                                      Sources:
http://www.nj.gov/dep/rpp/llrw/download/fact07.pdf
https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/basic-ref/glossary/radiation-ionizing.html
http://www.radiationanswers.org/index.html
http://www.ehrs.upenn.edu/programs/radiation/nonionizing_faq.html
http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/cosmos/B/Blackbody+Radiation
https://www.universetoday.com/40856/hawking-radiation/