Documenti di Didattica
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20 February 2019
Good day! How are you? I hope you are doing really fine. How am I? Oh! I’m doing
fine here. My studies are getting really stressful but you can count on me Grandma! I will do
my best to finish my studies.
I talked to Mama about a week ago, Grandma. I heard something very concerning.
It’s about your beliefs. Not political, but your beliefs about radiation. Mama said that you
believe that when you are exposed to radiation, you will die. Grandma, let us establish first
that when you are exposed to radiation, you will not die. Sure, there are some that can
really kill you but it takes a lot of dose for you to be killed by that radiation. Did you know
that radiation is part of our lives?
There are radiations in the food you eat, in the walls, floors, and ceilings of your
house, the church you go to every Sunday, and even at the grocery store you always visit
even though you are not buying anything. You’re there because that cute cashier guy. Yes,
Grandma, I know. There’s also radiation whenever you do your yearly X-ray. Light waves and
radio waves are also radiations. The ones that can harm the body are the ionizing radiation.
Ionizing radiation are radiations that can pass through are body. Once it is inside, it
will make the body electrically charged and this can affect normal bodily functions. There
are three types of ionizing radiation called alpha, beta, and gamma rays. The alpha rays are
the ones that can be stopped with a sheet of paper, which means that it can be stopped by
our skin. It can still, however, go inside our body through inhaling, eating, or drinking. The
beta rays can be stopped with an aluminium sheet. The gamma rays can pass through the
body but it can be stopped by thick walls of concrete. Don’t worry Grandma. The harm that
the radiations can do to you depends on the dose.
The unit used for dose is Sievert (Sv), but 1 Sv is quite large and most of the time,
radiation is measured in mSv. A chest X-ray can bring about 0.2 mSv of radiation. Normally,
we get about 2.4 mSv of radiation every year. Though it might vary in the location and stuff,
we don’t need to get into detail with that. Let’s just say you are a normie and you receive
that same amount of radiation.
You might be freaking out already Grandma. I can hear you saying, “You said it can’t
kill me, but here you are, saying that it can still damage my body. That’s not better, stupid
child!” Yes, it can damage your cells. That’s why, there is a way to protect you from these
radiations. To reduce the dose of radiation that you get, you need to remember time,
distance, and shielding. Less time spent near the source means less radiation received. The
greater your distance from the source is, you’ll get lesser radiation. Lastly, use shielding to
protect you. A while ago, I told how the alpha, beta, and gamma rays can be stopped.
I hope that you learned a lot from me Grandma Kendra. I really hope we see each
other again soon. Take care of yourself, Grandma.
Lots of love,
Rod