Gamma rays are a form of electromagnetic radiation, just like visible light or x rays, but with a much higher energy. The gamma ray spectrum is usually defined as light having a frequency between 1018 and 1021 Hertz. Gamma rays are more energetic than...

Gamma decay is one of the three radioactive decay modes available to atomic nuclei, along with alpha and beta decay. In alpha and beta decay, the atomic number of the nucleus changes, but in gamma decay the atomic number does not change. In gamma...

By 1900, it had become apparent that nuclear radiation consisted of at least two parts, alpha rays and beta rays. These two types of rays were bent in opposite directions by a magnetic field and had, therefore, to consist of charged particles. The two...

Gamma rays are a kind of electromagnetic radiation, or light energy. Just as visible light, infrared waves, microwaves, radio waves, ultraviolet rays, and x rays are forms of electromagnetic radiation, so too are gamma rays. Gamma rays are highly...

Gamma radiation is the emission of photons, the quantized units of light. The particles generally known as gamma rays are at the highest energy end of the electromagnetic spectrum and have the shortest wavelength and highest frequency. However, any...

High energy forms of electromagnetic radiation with very short wavelengths. Gamma rays are emitted by cosmic sources or by radioactive decay of atomic nuclei which occurs during nuclear reactions or the detonation of nuclear weapons. Gamma rays are the...

Type of radioactivity in the most common form of which an unstable atomic nucleus dissipates energy by gamma emission, producing gamma rays. Gamma decay also includes two other processes, internal conversion and internal pair production. In internal...

Penetrating very short-wavelength electromagnetic radiation, similar to an X-ray but of higher energy, that is emitted spontaneously by some radioactive substances (&see; gamma decay; radioactivity). Gamma radiation also originates in the decay of...

These rays travel with the speed of light and are similar to X-rays but have shorter wavelengths and greater penetrating power. Shielding requires use of dense materials, such as...

Gamma rays (denoted as γ) are a form of electromagnetic radiation or light emission of frequencies produced by sub-atomic particle interactions, such as electron-positron annihilation or radioactive decay. Gamma rays are generally characterized as...