We often see the dial of the watch, the compass glowing even in the dark. When asked, we said it was due to radium. The radium is used on the dial of the watch and the light is coming out from there. If you have heard such answers, then he is right but not completely right. So let's see what is the real incident?
Radium is a radioactive substance with atomic number 6 and atomic mass 226. It is an element of Phase 6 and Group 2 of the Periodic Table. There are 34 isotopes of radium in nature, all of which are radioactive. Beamont finds the presence of radium. Due to radioactivity, radium emits alpha particles, beta particles and gamma rays in the form of radiation. So is this radiation visible to our eyes? -The answer is "no". We do not see radiation emitted from radium.
So where does the light we see come from?
To see light we have to add other substances to the radium that will absorb radiation from the radium and emit light visible to our eyes. Such a substance is phosphor.
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Phosphor
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Phosphorus is a substance that emits light in the presence of high-energy electromagnetic waves (EM waves) or particle radiation.
Phosphor is made from oxides of metals like zinc, cadmium, manganese, aluminum, silicon etc., nitrite, sulphide, halide, silicate.
Here are some examples:
- Silver doping with zinc sulfide, which gives green light.
- Copper doping with zinc sulfide, which gives blue-green light.
- Copper and magnesium doping with zinc sulfide, which gives yellow-orange light.
Now let us know how the phosphors give light.
We know that all matter is made up of atoms. Atoms again consist of electrons, protons, neutrons.
At the center of the atom are protons and neutrons (which are the nucleus of the atom). Electrons are outside the nucleus.
The electrons of the substance used in phosphorus reach high energy levels by absorbing the radiation (alpha / beta particles) emitted from radium.
From the higher energy level the electron leaves energy (which is visible light to our eyes) and returns to its eastern orbit.
Thus in the use of phosphor in the radiation of radium we see light, which we do not need any separate external energy source to see.
The process by which we see this light is called radioluminescence.
Radioluminescence is the process by which light is emitted from a luminescence substance due to the radioactivity of a radioactive substance.
After all, we can say that we get light from phosphor. Radium has acted as a source of energy here.
Thank you for reading😊
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