Cosmic Radiation Paper
Cosmic Radiation
Lots of cosmic rays exist in the universe. They pass through our bodies, day in and day out, but what are they? Cosmic Radiation is a collection of many different types of rays from lots of different sources. Cosmic Rays can also be referred to as high energy rays which usually come from outside of the solar system. Cosmic Rays are also known as Primaries. This means that they can originate from the galaxy (including solar) or from extragalactic origin. The most known is where they originate from the galaxy, but the extragalactic origin is less known. This is because only about 1 extragalactic cosmic ray particle per square meter per year reaches the Earth's surface.
[pic 1] Cosmic Rays were first discovered by a physicist named Victor Hess. In an article by CERN.com it states "Hess started off by using a series of ascents in a balloon to take measurements of radiation in the atmosphere. To test the theory, in 1909 German scientist Theodor Wulf measured the rate of ionization near the top of the Eiffel tower using a electroscope. Though he expected the ionization rate to decrease as the height increased, Wulf noted that the ionization rate at the top was just under half that at ground level. In 1911 his balloon reached an altitude of around 1100 meters, but Hess found no change in the amount of radiation compared with ground level. On 7 April 1912, Hess climbed up 5300 meters during a near-total eclipse of the Sun. Since ionization of the atmosphere did not decrease during the eclipse, he reasoned that the source of the radiation could not be the Sun - it had to be coming from further out in space. Hess had discovered a natural source of high-energy particles: cosmic rays." This led him to get a noble peace prize in 1936!
[pic 2] Cosmic rays come with lots of different energy capacities. Cosmic Radiation usually has low energy. These particles originate from sources close to Earth, but the Earth's atmosphere and magnetic field help shield us from the particles. The most basic unit of the energy of a cosmic ray is the electronvolt, or eV. Each eV shows the amount of energy gained by a single electron when going through an electric aptitude of one volt. Common batteries have a aptitude of 1.5 volts. That means that a single electron through a regular battery will gain 1.5 eV. When energy of the cosmic rays increases, the density of the particles decreases very fast. When the particles reach the Earth, they go through less bending in the magnetic field and they go deeper into the atmosphere.
[pic 3] Cosmic Radiation have almost no effect on humans because they usually never reach our surface, but there is many uses of cosmic rays. What makes the Cosmic Rays useful is that you can trace their origins. When scientists study their frequencies, they are able to determine the relative abundance of elements such as helium or hydrogen. Other practical applications of Cosmic Rays include Spacecraft, Aircraft, Ground Based Computation, Control Systems and Human Health and Safety. They help us with spacecraft because they help us develop new things that help us measure their matter, energy, etc. People that travel in aircraft a lot, like pilots, are suppose to get harmed by Cosmic Rays the most because they are in a very high altitude. Thus the Cosmic Rays, help us with Aircraft because they give us more ideas on how to improve aircraft so that nobody gets harmed by Cosmic Rays in any way possible. They improve our ground based computation because, muons which make up most of comic radiation that reaches the Earth's Surface, help map volcanoes also including the inside of it. Lastly, they help with control systems and human health and safety because the muons can help create radiography for nuclear materials and detecting weapons.