Part A How much does natural radioactivity vary from location to location on the Earth Are there places other than Denver with high natural levels Can you find records of radioactivity for the place you live While some radioactivity is artificial natural radiation is something that occurs naturally on earth Natural radioactive materials are found on under and above the earth s surface They exist in rocks soils and radiation from space and it do vary from location to location This means some parts of the world naturally has more radioactivity than other parts of the world There are 3 different types of natural radioactivity terrestrial sources airborne sources and cosmic radiation Terrestrial radiation is radiation that is emitted from materials found on the Earth s surface Airborne sources are radioactive gasses that emit from the ground like radon and decayed gasses The last is cosmic radiation which is radiation derived from outside the earths atmosphere Terrestrial radiation comes from naturally occurring materials like uranium and radon which are commonly found in rocks Terrestrial radiation does vary because mountains rivers and soils which are where this radiation is found and some locations do not have mountainous regions For example Ramsar Iran and Southern Australia have a high natural radiation because of the many hot springs that run through that area The springs come in contact with rocks that are rich with radon and uranium then it follows throughout the rest of the water throughout these places Airborne sources of radiation are found in places where there is naturally a vast amount of radon found in the soil which then emits into the atmosphere Radon is the product of decayed uranium and can be found in the Earth s crust though it is more commonly found in ore bearing rocks scattered throughout the crust Radon does seep out them and into the atmosphere and contaminate water or inhaled naturally Cosmic radiation is found outside the Earth s atmosphere but still can affect humans This radiation affects people who spent a lot of time up in the upper troposphere like airline crews frequent flyers and astronauts Because they are higher in the atmosphere these people are exposed to more radiation than people who are down on land While most people do not have to worry about this because it s a natural occurrence and the body is used to some natural radiation others have to be careful This worry is usually only for people that spend an extensive around of time in the upper atmosphere like people who fly very frequently Though in general any higher altitude means a higher level of cosmic radiation So people in mountainous regions are naturally exposed to more radiation than people living in the south The records for radioactivity where I lived are low compared to most other areas Because Florida is all flat and does not have mountains or even hills and the altitude is pretty low I am not exposed to as much radiation as others are Florida is said to receive around 0 21 2 ppm of uranium varying on the location While in places along the Florida Georgia line receive 0 9 1 9 I live in central Florida which has one of the lowest recorded spots for uranium around 0 2 ppm Natural Radioactivity does vary from location to location on Earth and there are some places that do have higher natural levels than others like mountainous regions Though overall all places on Earth receive natural radiation from terrestrial airborne and cosmic sources Part B Find and read an article on physics or technology from some serious website Give the link to the article and summarize the article drawing connections to class and or explaining what you do not understand about the article An MRI machine is a magnetic resonance machine which is a medical device used to create pictures of the anatomy of an individual In order to get these readings the MRI uses different combinations of magnetic fields and radio waves to get a rendering of the human body Though these machines are far from being perfect In the latest study the magnetic fields of the MRI scanners are being turned up to possibly be able to spot neurodegenerative diseases before they are fatal The average MRI machine has a magnetic field between 1 5 to 3 T while these new machines are being boosting up to 7 T to be able to catch these neurological spots on the images the machine produces This testing is in its first minor stages and is nowhere near complete but this could be a breakthrough for treating neurodegenerative diseases If these diseases are caught early enough they can be treated before it is too late One complication that is being discovered is because the magnetic field is being boosted higher there is also a problem with reading the scans A darkness is cast over the brain in these new scans which is proving very difficult to read Currently the researchers are trying to combine multiple atoms to be able to get more of the same overall readable coverage of the scans Part A Alden Andrew 2018 June 22 Map of Natural Radioactivity in the United States Retrieved from https www thoughtco com map of natural radioactivity in the us 3961098 Part B Schirber Michael Synopsis A Meta Solution to MRI Inhomogeneities Physics American Physical Society 27 Sept 2018 wwwphysics aps org synopsisfor 10 1103 PhysRevX 8 03108
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