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Article | REF: SL6160 V1

Protection against the dangers of ionizing radiation

Authors: Alain BIAU, Jean-Pierre VIDAL

Publication date: June 10, 2009, Review date: September 1, 2015

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1. Atoms and ionizing radiation

  • Structure of the atom

    Atoms are made up of a nucleus of nucleons (protons and neutrons) and a ring of electrons. Each atom is characterized by its atomic number Z (number of protons equal to the number of electrons in the non-ionized state) and its mass number A (number of nucleons equal to the sum of the numbers of protons and neutrons in the atomic nucleus). Two atoms are said to be "isotopes" if they have the same number of protons, but a different number of neutrons, e.g.

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