is it true

[daleroy]

does sand block radiation just some thing I heard a wile back and was wondering if it was true

[Hamish]

Anything will 'block' radiation - if there is enough of it. It all depends on the ability of the atoms in a material to 'capture' the radation and the dencity of the atoms in the material. Some atoms are better at capturing certain types of radiation compared to others. Even thick lead will only provide a certain level of protection. I saw a source handled the other day in a 2 inck thick canister - the detector could still pick up elevated levels out side the canister, although the actual levels we very low. - about 10 000 times less then when it was out of the canister.

[jake-the-peg]

The thing is there's more than one type of radiation.

Alpha particles can be stopped by a sheet of paper for example but if you inhale radon gas those alpha particles can mess up the cells in your lungs good and proper!

Neutron radiation is nasty because they're neutrally charged and so can penetrate a lot of matter and can be big enough to do damage to what they hit - you get that in nuclear power stations.

To protect against neutron you neeed matter - lots of it densely packed, sand is good, lead is better.

At the far end of the scale a neutrino could pass through a light-year of lead without interacting with anythin - or causing any harm. - infact as you read this they are litterally flodding through your body .

[rojash]

Oh how I hate it when my body gets flodded

[shammydodger]

Really Rojash? I like nothing more than a good old-fashioned flod!