moonsnotreal
weariedfae
MrJameGumb
KoboldCoterie
photonic_sorcerer
burgersc12
maria [she/her]
☂️-
hallettj
ChaoticNeutralCzechThe half-life of ^235^U is hundreds of millions of years so it is not a concern. However, it will literally become a nuke if too much (a few liters or 60 kg) get too close together.
The half-life of plutonium-239 is tens of thousands of years so only a thousandth will get a chance to hurt Theodore over his lifetime. However, it is probably chemically toxic so it might cause non-radiation poisoning.
Radium will decay in days, and will quickly go through 7 more radioactive reactions, both alpha and beta, before becoming essentially stable bismuth. It is the worst by far.
ToastedPlanetThe plutonium gives off some alpha radiation that won’t hurt you if you don’t eat it.
Breathing in particles of plutonium is the danger.
Because it emits alpha particles, plutonium is most dangerous when inhaled. When plutonium particles are inhaled, they lodge in the lung tissue. The alpha particles can kill lung cells, which causes scarring of the lungs, leading to further lung disease and cancer. Plutonium can enter the blood stream from the lungs and travel to the kidneys, meaning that the blood and the kidneys will be exposed to alpha particles. Once plutonium circulates through the body, it concentrates in the bones, liver, and spleen, exposing these organs to alpha particles. Plutonium that is ingested from contaminated food or water does not pose a serious threat to humans because the stomach does not absorb plutonium easily and so it passes out of the body in the feces.
tacosanonymous
faceless
Quereller
a) Alvin:
²³⁵U (α, t~½~ = 7.04 × 10⁸ y) (fissile @ spherical critical diameter 17.3 cm) →
²³¹Th (β⁻, t~½~ = 25.5 h) →
²³¹Pa (α, t~½~ = 3.27 × 10⁴ y) →
²²⁷Ac (β⁻, t~½~ = 21.8 y) →
²²⁷Th (α, t~½~ = 18.7 d) →
²²³Ra (α, t~½~ = 11.4 d) →
²¹⁹Rn (α, t~½~ = 3.96 s) →
²¹⁵Po (α, t~½~ = 1.78 s) →
²¹¹Pb (β⁻, t~½~ = 36.1 min) →
²¹¹Bi (α, t~½~ = 2.14 min) →
²⁰⁷Tl (β⁻, t~½~ = 4.77 min) →
²⁰⁷Pb (stable)
b) Theodore:
²³⁹Pu (α, t~½~ = 2.031 × 10⁴ y) →
²³⁵U (α, t~½~ = 7.04 × 10⁸ y) →
²³¹Th (β⁻, t~½~ = 25.5 h) →
²³¹Pa (α, t~½~ = 3.27 × 10⁴ y) →
²²⁷Ac (β⁻, t~½~ = 21.8 y) →
²²⁷Th (α, t~½~ = 18.7 d) →
²²³Ra (α, t~½~ = 11.4 d) →
²¹⁹Rn (α, t~½~ = 3.96 s) →
²¹⁵Po (α, t~½~ = 1.78 s) →
²¹¹Pb (β⁻, t~½~ = 36.1 min) →
²¹¹Bi (α, t~½~ = 2.14 min) →
²⁰⁷Tl (β⁻, t~½~ = 4.77 min) →
²⁰⁷Pb (stable)
c) Simon:
²²⁵Ra (β⁻, t~½~ = 14.9 d) →
²²⁵Ac (α, t~½~ = 9.92 d) →
²²¹Fr (α, t~½~ = 4.18 min) →
²¹⁷At (α, t~½~ = 32.3 ms) →
²¹³Bi (β⁻, t~½~ = 45.6 min) →
²¹³Po (α, t~½~ = 3.65 μs) →
²⁰⁹Pb (β⁻, t~½~ = 3.25 h) →
²⁰⁹Bi (α, t~½~ = 2.01 × 10¹⁹ y) →
²⁰⁵Tl (stable)
Baut [she/her] auf.It is the disintegration chain of each atom and the particules and half life of all.
Half life is the time it takes for half the atoms to disintegrate. The first letter is the emited radiation (alpha, beta, gamma).
You can derived how dangerous each of these materials is from these informations
I didn’t say it was anywhere close to critical mass. People were suggesting Alvin’s sample would be worst (likely because of how U-235 is notoriously used in nukes) but I reminded them that only a big chunk of sufficiently pure U-235 would be catastrophic, otherwise the radiation is surprisingly mild.
And Theodore’s sample will also contain a varying amount of U-235 but it may never get pure enough.
From this data, they can calculate the specific activity of each sample.
- ²³⁵U: 7.99 × 10⁴ Bq/g
- ²³⁹Pu: 2.29 × 10⁹ Bq/g
- ²²⁵Ra: 1.44 × 10¹⁵ Bq/g
Yeah, Simon’s sample is 600000x more active than Theodore’s, which is a further 30000x more active than Alvin’s. Even though Simon’s sample produces mostly β particles (which are generally about 10 times less destructive), he is clearly the worst here.
Multiply that by the number of grams in the sample and you get the activity of each sample in becquerels.
Now just use a chipmunk body model and estimated distance from each sample to calculate the absorbed dose in grays (not to be confused with equivalent dose measured in sieverts). 70% lethal dose over 30 days is 10~12 Gy for mice so chipmunks should have it similar but take into account that they weigh around 100 g.
Copy this into a new comment and we’ll call it even.
Ra is a solid (Radium) Rn is a gas (Radon).
Unless I’m wrong. Id better check.
Are these decay rates specified for isolated atoms?
I believe they would decay faster when bombarded by particles from fellow atoms, no? So we’d have to account for the mass, shape and density of the samples to get true rates. I don’t think that would change the rankings, but it might increase Simon’s troubles if the radon was frozen or otherwise really compressed, for example.
Sadrockman
agnomeunknownAs a fellow chipmunks hater, I would be remiss if I didn’t tell you to check out chipmunks on 16 speed. Truly a mind melting experience.
I’m sorry, you’re welcome.
u/unhappy_grapefruit_2