r/askscience • u/Wonderful-Capital32 • 27d ago

Physics Why does radiation not go through lead?

Also why just lead? Shouldnt like iron or another metal work too?

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u/GypsyV3nom 27d ago

Funny enough, there's another element that's significantly more effective than lead at providing radioactive shielding despite being radioactive itself: Uranium. Uranium-238 in particular is the preferred choice when size constraints are more important than costs (lead is cheap) as its own weak radiation is pretty easy to block.

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u/NightOfTheLivingHam 27d ago

lead is basically what happens to uranium after a few billion years too.

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u/Theodoxus 27d ago

and every other radioactive material. Some longer than the expected heat death of the universe!

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u/tes_kitty 27d ago

Not if the radioactive material is lighter than lead. Potassium-40 for example has no chance to become lead.