Home Safety with Radioactivity

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Home Safety with Radioactivity
Smoke Detectors
Radon Detecting
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Smoke Detectors

• Smoke detectors are recommended in every home,
  and save thousands of lives a year.
• The element that causes the detector to sense the
  smoke and wake everyone up is the radioactive
  element americium-241.

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Americium-241

• Half Life of 432 years
• Atomic number of 95
• The vital ingredient of smoke detectors

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How smoke detectors work

• When smoke enters the ionization chamber, it
  disrupts the current and the smoke detector
  senses the drop in current between the plates and
  sets off the alarm.

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Radon
Radon -symbol of Rn -atomic number of
86 -Half-life of 3.8 days
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References Page

• Uranium Information Centre Ltd- 2004. 18 Nov.
  2004. http//www.uic.com.au/nip35.htm
• Webelements- 1993-2004. Mark Winter. 18 Nov.
  2004. http//www.webelements.com/webelements/elem
  ents/media/xtal-image/Am-bs.jpg
• Radon Information Center- 1999-2002. Air Chek.
  18 Nov. 2004. http//radon.com/radon/radon_facts.
  html