Range of radiation

There are three different types of radiation:

Alpha

Beta

Gamma

The range of these different types of radiation is how far these charged particles can move until their energy is at almost zero. The different types have different ranges and penetrate different materials. This variates between having a short range in the air (alpha) to only being put to a halter by a wall of lead or concrete (gamma).

Ranges vary depending on the initial kinetic energy of the charged particles, and how thick the different materials are. The range of Alpha radiation is usually when the ionization ceases to occur (Britannica.com), and one often measured from the source in a straight line. Beta radiation is measured differently, often by how penetrating the radiation is in regard to different substances by finding out the minimum thickness of the substance needed to stop all radiation.

When measuring gamma radiation with a Geiger-Müller counter, we can observe that this type of radiation is the most ionizing and therefore will be the most penetrating and have the longest range.