ionising atom(s) with gamma rays [closed]

Question

if a gamma ray hits an electron and transfers energy, does it hit that electron (ionising the atom), transfer all its energy and stop or does it pass through multiple electrons, transferring a portion of its energy each time?

i.e.) if a gamma ray has enough energy to ionise multiple atoms, will it, or will it just give all its energy to the one electron?

also if is has the energy to ionise multiple atoms, about how many electrons can it remove (for a range of ray energies)? (i know it is a bit general, but lets say for the first ionisation of potassium)

also, why is the dose equivalent so low? is it because it can only ionise 1 atom by +1, or because its ionizations (and hence energy) are dispersed throughout many atoms (making the meaning less energy transferred per ionisation)?

(i know this has a lot to do woth physics and so i posted it on the physics SE to, but i was wondering weather a fellow chemist could help me out, thanks)

Answer 1

Various mechanisms for interaction of gamma radiation with matter are possible. Depending on the energy and the composition of the absorbing material, the most important types for gamma radiation are photoelectric effect, Compton scattering, and pair production.

In absorption of gamma radiation of lower energy by the photoelectric effect, the photon is absorbed completely by the atom and an energetic electron is ejected. The energy of the emitted electron is the difference between the energy of the gamma-ray and the binding energy for that electron in the atom.

Gamma radiation of higher energy directly interacts with one electron by the Compton effect. Usually, this is the most probable interaction of gamma radiation. The incoming photon transfers a portion of its energy to the electron and is deflected through an angle with respects to its original direction. Since all angles of scattering are possible, the transferred energy varies from zero to a large fraction of the energy of the photon. The scattered photon may have sufficient energy to interact further by Compton effect or photoelectric effect.

If the energy of the gamma radiation is very large (i.e. it exceeds $1.02\ \mathrm{MeV}$, which is twice the rest-mass energy of an electron), the process of pair production is energetically possible. In the interaction, the photon disappears and is replaced by an electron and a positron. The process may be considered as the inverse of positron annihilation.

Your additional question about the equivalent dose is slightly misleading. The resulting equivalent dose from gamma radiation is not particularly low. By definition, the radiation weighting factor of gamma radiation is $w_\text{R}=1$. Thus, an absorbed dose of $D=1\ \mathrm{Gy}$ leads to an equivalent dose of $H=1\ \mathrm{Sv}$. However, you may ask why some other radiation types have a higher relative biological effectiveness.