What can beta particles pass through?

Answer 1

• Skin to a depth of up to half an inch depending on energy, leaving a beta burn. The burned skin will blister and peel to the depth of the burn like a sunburn.
• Metal foils.
• Air for several yards.

Answer 2

No.

First of all, Beta radiation is not really radiation; it is a bombardment by Beta particles. We now know that these are just electrons.

Secondly, electrons can't go through your body; your skin is enough to stop them.

Actually high energy Beta can penetrate all layers of the skin and into the tissue beneath. This causes what are called Beta Burns and are similar to a very bad Sunburn, only deeper, more dead tissue that flakes off, permanent scarring, and a higher chance of skin cancer later.

Answer 3

Short Answer:

Gamma rays go through most light materials, such as building materials and are effectively diminished by heavier materials such as lead. It depends on the energy of the gamma ray, but the amount of radiation can often be cut in half by one centimeter thickness of a heavy metal.

Specific Examples:

To a rough approximation, the mass density of the material determines how well it blocks gamma rays, not just the thickness. Lead has a density over 11 times greater than water, so one inch thickness of lead should be worth 11 inches for shielding gamma rays. In the table below, you can see lead actually does even better. The thickness necessary to reduce gamma radiation by half is listed with the density of the material in parentheses.

lead 1.0 cm (11.3 g/cm^3

steel 2.5 cm (7.86 g/cm^3

concrete 6 cm (3.33 g/cm^3

soil 9 cm (1.99 g/cm^3

water 18 cm (1 g/cm^3)

wood 302 cm (0.56 g/cm^3)

air 15000 cm (0.0012 g/cm^3)

Gamma rays can have any energy, so these numbers not equally good for all gamma rays, but work for the sort of radiation humans might encounter due to radioactivity on Earth.

More:

Gamma rays are a highly penetrating form of electromagnetic radiation. Gamma rays represent the entire high energy range of the spectrum above X-rays. This means energies that are a fraction or higher in electron volts.

Radioactive materials are an important source of gamma rays and much study has gone into determining how to block this form of radiation.

Gamma rays can go through anything for a short distance. The details depend on the particular energy of the gamma rays, but for energies typically encountered in laboratories dealing with radioactive materials, it takes a centimeter thick layer of lead to cut the radiation in half.

In a very approximate characterization, one can say that gamma rays are stopped largely by the mass of the material they have to penetrate through. Thus a centimeter thick barrier of light materials, like wood, water and people allow more gamma rays to pass than a centimeter of lead or uranium shielding.

Fortunately, the Earth is covered by a very thick layer of air because there are a lot of gamma rays that originate in space and would create a much much higher radiation level on Earth if the atmosphere were not present as protection. This becomes a serious problem for space travel which requires heavy shielding for people and instruments.

Answer 4

Gamma rays can pass through the human body, cement, soil, paper, wood, and practically anything because they have such high energy and travel at the speed of light.

Answer 5

beta particles or high speed electrons or positrons can pass through paper but are haled by objects such as a sheet of aluminium

Answer 6

Beta radiation have larger penetrating range than alpha radiation. They can penetrate 10mm through matter.

Answer 7

Beta particles can pass through thin materials such as paper, plastic, and even clothing. However, they can be stopped by denser materials like aluminum or lead.

Answer 8

it can pass through the human body

Answer 9

Only paper