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The becquerel (symbol Bq) (pronounced: 'be-k-rel) is the SI-derived unit of radioactivity. One Bq is defined as the activity of a quantity of radioactive material in which one nucleus decays per second. This measurement applies directly to the source and represents decay product per time unit. SI unit: 1 becquerel = 1 disintegration per second Conventional unit: 1 curie = 37 billion disintegrations per second.
convert to Roentgen or Coulomb per kilogram. Counts per minute can be useful when detector efficiency is in question.
Dose equivalent
The dose equivalent is a measure of biological effect for whole body irradiation. The dose equivalent is equal to the product of the absorbed dose and the Quality Factor. The equivalent dose to a tissue is found by multiplying the absorbed dose, in gray, by a weighting factor (WR). The relation between absorbed dose D and equivalent dose H is thus: . The weighting factor (sometimes referred to as a quality factor) is determined by the radiation type and energy range.
where HT is the equivalent dose absorbed by tissue T DT,R is the absorbed dose in tissue T by radiation type R WR is the weighting factor defined by the following table The Quality Factor (Q) depends on the type of radiation: X-ray, Gamma ray, or beta radiation: Q = 1 alpha particles: Q = 20 neutrons of unknown energy: Q = 10 conventional units: dose equivalent (rems) is the product of dose (rads) and Q SI units: dose equivalent (sieverts) is the product of dose (grays) and Q Conversion 1 Sievert (Sv) = 100 rem 1 rem = 0.01 Sievert (Sv)
Sievert
It attempts to quantitatively evaluate the biological effects of ionizing radiation as opposed to the physical aspects, which are characterised by the absorbed dose, measured in gray. The unit gray measures the absorbed dose of radiation (D), absorbed by any material. The unit sievert measures the equivalent dose of radiation (H), having the same damaging effect as an equal dose of gamma rays. Both the gray, with symbol Gy and the sievert, with symbol Sv are SI derived units, defined as a unit of energy (joule) per unit of mass (kilogram): 1 Gy = 1 Sv = 1 J / kg SI multiples and conversions Frequently used SI multiples are the millisievert (1 mSv = 0.001 Sv) and microsievert (1 Sv = 0.000001 Sv).
An older unit for the equivalent dose, is the rem, still often used in the United States. One sievert is equal to 100 rem:
1 rem = 0.01 Sv = 10 mSv 1 mrem = 0.01 mSv = 10 Sv 1 Sv = 100 rem 1 mSv = 100 mrem = 0.1 rem 1 Sv = 0.1 mrem
Gray
The gray (symbol: Gy) is the SI unit of absorbed radiation dose of ionizing radiation (for example, X-rays), and is defined as the absorption of one joule of ionizing radiation by one kilogram of matter (usually human tissue).
Effective dose
The effective dose of radiation (E), absorbed by a person is obtained by averaging over all irradiated tissues with weighting factors adding up to 1:
and a weighting factor, WR, which accounts for the effectiveness of the radiation to cause biological damage. It has been superseded by the rad.
Exposure
Exposure is a quantity that expresses the radiation delivered to a point at a certain distance. 1 roentgen (R) = 258 microcoulomb/kg (C/kg) 1 millicoulomb/kg mC/kg = 3876 milliroentgen (mR)
Roentgen
The roentgen (R, also rntgen) is a unit of measurement for exposure to ionizing radiation (such as X-ray and gamma rays), and is named after the German physicist Wilhelm Rntgen. Adopted in 1928, 1 R is the amount of radiation required to liberate positive and negative charges of one electrostatic unit of charge (esu or StatCoulomb) in one cubic centimeter of dry air at standard temperature and pressure (STP). This corresponds to the generation of approximately 2.0819109 ion pairs. Conversion In SI units, 1 R = 2.58104 C/kg (from 1 esu 3.335641010 C and the standard atmosphere air density of ~1.293 kg/m).
Unit conversion
1.0000 rem = 0.0010 rem = 1000.0 mrem = 1 rem = 0.010000 Sv = 1.0 mrem = 1 mrem = 0.000010 Sv = 10.000 mSv = 0.010 mSv = 10000 Sv 10 Sv
100.0000 rem = 100000.0 mrem = 1 Sv = 1.000000 Sv = 1000.000 mSv = 1000000 Sv 0.1000 rem = 100.0 mrem = 1 mSv = 0.001000 Sv = 1.000 mSv = 1000 Sv 0.0001 rem = 0.1 mrem = 1 Sv = 0.000001 Sv = 0.001 mSv = 1 Sv