Question

Which of the following radiations has the least wavelength?
A.) $\gamma$ rays
B.) $\beta$ rays
C.) $\alpha$ rays
D.) X - rays

Answer 1

Hint: Radiation is flow of atomic and subatomic particles and of waves, such as those that characterize heat rays, light rays, and X rays. All matter is constantly bombarded with radiation of both types from cosmic and terrestrial sources.

Complete step-by-step answer:

Gamma Radiation has the shortest wavelength.
Order is as follows (shortest to longest wavelength):

\[{\lambda_{\gamma rays}} < {\lambda_{X rays}} < {\lambda_{\alpha rays}} < {\lambda_{\beta rays}}\]

Gamma has the shortest wavelength because it has a higher frequency, meaning more waves in a second than any other radiation, which results in the short wavelength.
A gamma ray (g) is a packet of electric radiation (photon), released following radioactive decay by the nucleus of certain radionuclides. Gamma photons are the photons with the most energy in the electromagnetic spectrum.

Additional Information:
Gamma rays are formed when the radioactive atomic nuclei are disintegrated and when other subatomic particles decay. The widely accepted descriptions of the electromagnetic spectrum's gamma-ray and X-ray areas contain some wavelength variation, with gamma-ray rays having wavelengths usually less than a few tenths of an angstrom, and gamma-ray photons with energies greater than hundreds of thousands of electron volts. There is no potential higher limit to gamma-ray photon energies and no lower limit to gamma-ray wavelengths; measured energies actually range up to a few trillion volts of electron — these incredibly high-energy photons are produced in observational processes by mechanisms that are.

Note: Frequency is inversely proportional to the wavelength, and because it has a short wavelength and high frequency it has the most energy out of the rest of the Electromagnetic Radiation Spectrum.