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Encyclopedia > Petabecquerel

The becquerel (symbol Bq) is the SI derived unit of radioactivity, defined as the activity of a quantity of radioactive material in which one nucleus decays per second. It is therefore equivalent to s-1. The older unit of radioactivity was the curie (Ci), defined as 3.7×1010 becquerels or 37 GBq. SI derived units are part of the SI system of measurement units and are derived from the seven SI base units. ... Radioactivity may mean: Look up radioactivity in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... A stylized representation of a lithium atom. ... Look up second in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Look up second in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The curie (symbol Ci) is a former unit of radioactivity, defined as 3. ...


In a fixed mass of radioactive material, the number of becquerels changes with time. In some circumstances, amounts of radioactive material are given after adjustment for some period of time. For example, one might quote a ten-day adjusted figure, that is, the amount of radioactivity that will still be present after ten days. This deemphasizes short-lived isotopes.


It was designated, in the SI, to use the becquerel rather than the reciprocal second for the activity measure unit. This unit was specifically introduced because of the dangers to human health which might arise from mistakes involving the units reciprocal second. Using the becquerel unit a more active (and so, all the other things fixed, more dangerous) source has a higher number. Using 1/s or s as a second instead may lead to confusion.

Contents


Definition

1 Bq = 1 s–1


SI multiples

Multiple Name Symbol Multiple Name Symbol
100 becquerel Bq      
101 decabecquerel daBq 10–1 decibecquerel dBq
102 hectobecquerel hBq 10–2 centibecquerel cBq
103 kilobecquerel kBq 10–3 millibecquerel mBq
106 megabecquerel MBq 10–6 microbecquerel µBq
109 gigabecquerel GBq 10–9 nanobecquerel nBq
1012 terabecquerel TBq 10–12 picobecquerel pBq
1015 petabecquerel PBq 10–15 femtobecquerel fBq
1018 exabecquerel EBq 10–18 attobecquerel aBq
1021 zettabecquerel ZBq 10–21 zeptobecquerel zBq
1024 yottabecquerel YBq 10–24 yoctobecquerel yBq

Origin

It was named after Henri Becquerel, who shared a Nobel Prize with Marie Curie for their work in discovering radioactivity. Antoine Henri Becquerel (December 15, 1852 – August 25, 1908) was a French physicist, Nobel laureate, and one of the discoverers of radioactivity. ... Sir Edward Appletons medal Photographs of Nobel Prize Medals. ... Maria Skłodowska-Curie. ...

This SI unit is named after Henri Becquerel. As for all SI units whose names are derived from the proper name of a person, the first letter of its symbol is uppercase (Bq). But when an SI unit is spelled out, it should always be written in lowercase (becquerel), unless it begins a sentence or is the name "degree Celsius".
— Based on The International System of Units, section 5.2.

Image File history File links SI_Brochure_Cover. ... Cover of brochure The International System of Units. ... Antoine Henri Becquerel (December 15, 1852 – August 25, 1908) was a French physicist, Nobel laureate, and one of the discoverers of radioactivity. ... Majuscules or capital letters (in the Roman alphabet: A, B, C, ...) are one type of case in a writing system. ... Minuscule, or lower case, is the smaller form (case) of letters (in the Roman alphabet: a, b, c, ...). Originally alphabets were written entirely in majuscule (capital) letters which were spaced between well-defined upper and lower bounds. ...

External links


  Results from FactBites:
 
Sellafield - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (1180 words)
An estimated 750 terabecquerels (TBq) (20,000 curies) of radioactive Iodine-131 were released, and milk and other produce from the surrounding farming areas had to be destroyed.
For comparison, 250,000 terabecquerels or 250 petabecquerels (7 million curies) of Iodine-131 were released by Chernobyl, and only 0.55 terabecquerels (15 curies) of Iodine-131 by Three Mile Island.
On February 17, 2005, the UK Atomic Energy Authority reported that 29.6 kg (65.3 lb) of plutonium, enough to make seven nuclear bombs, was unaccounted for in auditing records at the Sellafield nuclear fuel reprocessing plant.
  More results at FactBites »


 

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