Originally posted by Sinter Klaas By the way... I suck at math. Could you pleased explain in words what you just said ?
No problem, I hope. This is a very complex subject, given the physics involved, but I'll try to explain it in as simple terms as possible.
Einstein reasoned that
energy stored in any given amount of matter is equal to the mass of that matter times the speed of light squared (this
is particularly true of nuclear fission or fusion) and produced the equation E = energy, M = mass, and C = the speed of light to prove his theory.
It was not until the first test detonation in Nevada in 1945 that Einstein's theory was proved correct.
As I said, everything has an opposite - war/peace, hot/cold, life/death etc.
So it is with E = MC2 and this is the
7 & 10 Rule which states that as time increases (multiplies) by a factor of seven, radiation decays by a
factor of ten.
Nuclear weapon are measured in size of the energy released when compared to the equal tonnage of TNT. A Sub-Kilton warhead is less than 1000 lbs of
TNT, a Kiloton warhead is equal to, or more than 1000 lbs of TNT up to 999,000 tons of TNT.
Thereafter, size is measured in Millions (Mega) tons of TNT (Mt). Thus a 1Mt bomb releases the equivalent energy of 1 million tons of TNT detonated at
the same time.
When a nuclear bomb explodes,
nuclear radiations (Alpha & Beta Particles, Gamma & X Rays) are released and, depending which country you live
in, the radiation can be measured in Rontgens, Rads, Becquerels
or centiGrays
per hour. This initial reading is called the
Dose Rate.
Alpha & Beta Particles have a very limited range - no more than a couple of inches. If alpha particles travel through water, they have the same range
of beta particles, about 2-4 inches.
Gamma Rays travel a little bit further, a foot or so, but X Rays travel far greater distances.
Let's say for example that at 1 o'clock this morning (H-Hour) a bomb was detonated and the radiation released measured one thousand rads an hour.
What the 7 & 10 Rule states is that seven hours after the explosion, the dose rate will have decayed to a count of one hundred rads per hour.
Fourtynine hours after H-Hour, the radiation will have decayed to a count of ten rads per hour.
If we then multiply Time (49 hours) by seven, we get 343 hours or 14 weeks, during which the radiation has decayed to just 1 rad an hour.
But it will take a staggering 98 weeks or one and a half years for the radiation to have a
zero reading.
However, there will always be background radiation which is of no significance in our daily lives.