Stocker, Yes, some people get freaked out at the mention of isolating pure radon gas. There's a reason.
It's an gas (read: inhaled) alpha emitter with a half life of 3 DAYS at most(I'm talking about rn-222, the longest lived isotope). That's thousands of times as radioactive as plutonium, without the good sense that plutonium has to come in solid form.
Even if you could safely confine it, if you had to use it in an optically clear container, AND you could replace it every few days as it decays, you may have problems (assuming you are fine with the other short lived members of the uranium decay series) with the thin sheet of radioactive lead that will end up coating your glass as the radon decays into solid Pb-210.
Argon is what you want here, if you want to block infrared. But it won't make a difference at all in the amount of fans that you use - thermodynamics being what it is.
It's an gas (read: inhaled) alpha emitter with a half life of 3 DAYS at most(I'm talking about rn-222, the longest lived isotope). That's thousands of times as radioactive as plutonium, without the good sense that plutonium has to come in solid form.
Even if you could safely confine it, if you had to use it in an optically clear container, AND you could replace it every few days as it decays, you may have problems (assuming you are fine with the other short lived members of the uranium decay series) with the thin sheet of radioactive lead that will end up coating your glass as the radon decays into solid Pb-210.
Argon is what you want here, if you want to block infrared. But it won't make a difference at all in the amount of fans that you use - thermodynamics being what it is.
I feel compelled to reply in this thread.
What brainiac decided Radon was a good idea?
Argon is not toxic. The only reason it's dangerous is that it can starve you of oxygen if you breathe in copious quantities.
and last but not least, why are you even filling it with any gas? A vacuum would be best.
What brainiac decided Radon was a good idea?
Argon is not toxic. The only reason it's dangerous is that it can starve you of oxygen if you breathe in copious quantities.
and last but not least, why are you even filling it with any gas? A vacuum would be best.
Little Erve said:
Argon even in non-lethal, smaller ammounts, has been proven to destroy brain cells. I'm no expert but I do remember Argon having some sort of weird property where it can bond to other gasses, which may be why it's considered to be fairly dangerous?
I can tell you exactly what it is like to die from oxygen starvation from personal experience, it's HORRIBLE. All the blood rushes to your head, I guess to compensate for the lack of oxygen, obviously making your head POUND. Then you start to basically hallucinate and freak out for 10-15 seconds and poof, all goes black. That 10-15 seconds feels like DAYS. No more pain, just a calm peaceful feeling. Not very fun to basically die before its time to die.
-Steve
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