What are the properties of beta particles?
Beta particles have a mass which is half of one thousanth of the mass of a proton (Figure 1) and carry a single negative charge. Beta-particles are emitted with a continuous energy spectrum ranging from near zero energy up to a maximum energy specific to each radionuclide. (The actual radioactive decay process will always produce a certain fixed amount of energy but in beta-decay, the energy is split randomly between the beta particle and an almost undetectable, uncharged, particle called the neutrino).Beta particles are much less ionizing that alpha particles and generally do less damage for a given amount of energy deposition.
