Why are Smoke Detectors Radioactive? And How do Smoke Detectors Work?

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You probably have a few smoke detectors throughout your house, but did you know that many designs of smoke detectors are radioactive? Well in this video we explore how smoke detectors work, and how they use the radioactive isotope Americium-241 to detect smoke. We'll also explore how Geiger counters work, and then how atoms of high atomic numbers are counterintuitively small. Smoke detectors are perfectly safe, and save lives. So make sure that they work on a regular basis.

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Table of Contents:
00:00 - Introduction to Smoke Detectors.
00:42 - Components inside a Smoke Detector.
02:26 - How does a radioactive isotope detect smoke?
07:24 - What are the types of radiation?
08:42 - Why is Americium radioactive?
10:05 - How is Americium produced.
11:00 - Other types of smoke detectors.
12:00 - Notes on Smoke Detectors.
13:03 - PCBWay Sponsorship.
14:30 - The Counterintuitive size of atoms.
17:08 - How do Geiger Counters Work?

Key Branches from this video are: How does a Computer Mouse Work?

Erratum:
at 9min15sec - We talked about the strong nuclear force holding together the nucleus, which is accurate. However radioactive decay is a result of the weak nuclear force, which wasn't mentioned.

Note:
We recommend not taking apart the inside of a smoke detector. It is such a small amount of Americium, but if mishandled it can result in illness.

Animation: Mike Radjabov
Script, Modeling: Teddy Tablante
Twitter: @teddytablante
Modeling: Prakash Kakadiya
Voice Over: Phil Lee
Sound Design: Luis Huesca

Animation built using Blender 3.2 https://www.blender.org/

Image Credit:
Cloud Chamber of Am-241 - Kebukawan on commons.wikimedia.org.

References:
Background on Smoke Detectors https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/fact-sheets/smoke-detectors.html

How do Smoke Detectors Work? https://home.howstuffworks.com/home-improvement/household-safety/smoke.htm

Ionization Detectors https://circuitcellar.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/CC2011110601.pdf

Ionization vs Photoelectric https://www.nfpa.org/Public-Education/Staying-safe/Safety-equipment/Smoke-alarms/Ionization-vs-photoelectric

Smoke Detector Circuit https://www.electroschematics.com/smoke-detector-circuit/

Wikipedia contributors. "Alpha Particle". "Americium-241". "Cloud Chamber". "Radioactive Decay". "Smoke Detector" Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, Visited September 2022

#SmokeDetector #Radioactive #HowStuffWorks