Becquerel
From The Encyclopedia of Earth
(Redirected from Becquerels)
April 20, 2010, 1:14 pm
Definition
| SI multiples of becquerel | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Multiple | Name | Symbol | Multiple | Name | Symbol | |
| 100 | becquerel | Bq | ||||
| 101 | decabecquerel | daBq | 10–1 | decibecquerel | dBq | |
| 102 | hectobecquerel | hBq | 10–2 | centibecquerel | cBq | |
| 103 | kilobecquerel | kBq | 10–3 | millibecquerel | mBq | |
| 106 | megabecquerel | MBq | 10–6 | microbecquerel | µBq | |
| 109 | gigabecquerel | GBq | 10–9 | nanobecquerel | nBq | |
| 1012 | terabecquerel | TBq | 10–12 | picobecquerel | pBq | |
| 1015 | petabecquerel | PBq | 10–15 | femtobecquerel | fBq | |
| 1018 | exabecquerel | EBq | 10–18 | attobecquerel | aBq | |
| 1021 | zettabecquerel | ZBq | 10–21 | zeptobecquerel | zBq | |
| 1024 | yottabecquerel | YBq | 10–24 | yoctobecquerel | yBq | |
The becquerel (Bq) is the SI derived unit of radioactivity in the International System of Units (SI), and equal to one disintegration or nuclear transformation per second. It is therefore equivalent to s-1. The older unit of radioactivity was the curie (Ci), defined as 3.7×1010 becquerels or 37 GBq.
History
The becquerel is named after Antoine Henri Becquerel, the French physicist credited with the discovery of radioactivity.
Further Reading
- Energy conversion tool at unitconversion.org.
- How Many? A Dictionary of Units of Measurement, Russ Rowlett, Center for Mathematics and Science Education, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
- SI base units and SI derived units, the Physics Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology.
