Question

Which measurement is most useful for detecting harm to personal from radioactive material.. the curie, roentgen, or rem?

Answer 1

answer: First we should know what these terms indicate in terms of radiation

Curie: The curie (Ci) is the original term used to describe the amount of radioactive material present or strength of the source. It is based upon the radioactive decay rate of the radionuclide.

A curie is a unit of ionizing radiation (radioactivity), symbolized Ci and equal to 3.7 x 10¹⁰ disintegrations or nuclear transformations per second. This is approximately the amount of radioactivity emitted by one gram (1 g) of radium-226.

Roentgen: The roentgen (R) is the term used to describe radiation exposure. This term for exposure only describes the amount of ionization in air. In the International System of Units, the coulomb/kilogram (c/kg) describes radiation exposure. One roentgen is equal to 2.58 x 10 -4c/kg

Roentgen is a unit of measurement for the exposure of X-rays and gamma rays up to several megaelectronvolts. It is a measure of the ionization produced in air by X-rays or gamma radiation and was the first international measurement quantity of ionizing radiation to be defined for radiation protection as it was a convenient method of measuring air ionization directly. It is named after the German physicist Wilhelm Röntgen, who discovered X-rays.

Rem: is the term used to describe equivalent or effective radiation dose. In the International System of Units, the sievert (Sv) describes equivalent or effective radiation dose. One Sievert is equal to 100 rem. It is a unit that is the product of energy absorbed in human tissues and the quality of the radiation being absorbed (the ability of the radiation to cause damage)

Quantities measured in rem are designed to represent the stochastic biological effects of ionizing radiation, primarily radiation-induced cancer. These quantities are a complex weighted average of absorbed dose, which is a clear physical quantity measured in rads. There is no universally applicable conversion constant from rad to rem; the conversion depends on relative biological effectiveness (RBE)

So Rem measurement is most useful for detecting harm to personal from radioactive material.