The Becquerel

Becquerel and Hertz have something in common; they both have a trivial unit named after them.

The Hertz is a frequency of one cycle per second. Naming the unit is a redundant addition to the language, but it does make writing flow a little better.

The Becquerel is a radioactive decay rate of one disintegration per second. Equally trivial, and not really necessary.

Other units of decay rate include the Curie and the Rad - look them up for interest but not for examination purposes.

Dose equivalent

The Seivert is the unit of dose equivalent - roughly the same biological damage is done by an exposure of 100 milliseivert whether the radiation be gamma rays or alpha particles etc. The definition of the Seivert is not required for IB purposes.

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