Whats the Difference Between Roentgen, Rad and Rem Radiation Measurements?
Since nuclear radiation affects people, we must be able to measure its presence. We also need to relate the amount of radiation received by the body to its physiological effects. Two terms used to relate the amount of radiation received by the body are exposure and dose. When you are exposed to radiation, your body absorbs a dose of radiation. As in most measurement quantities, certain units are used to properly express the measurement. For radiation measurements they are… • Roentgen: The roentgen measures the energy produced by gamma radiation in a cubic centimeter of air. It is usually abbreviated with the capital letter “R”. A milliroentgen, or “mR”, is equal to one one-thousandth of a roentgen. An exposure of 50 roentgens would be written “50 R”. • Rad: Or, Radiation Absorbed Dose recognizes that different materials that receive the same exposure may not absorb the same amount of energy. A rad measures the amount of radiation energy transferred to some mass of material, typically
