Now when it comes to our energetic particles, we have to talk about their ionizing power and their penetrating power. Now ionizing power is the ability of an energetic particle to it's in a name ionize atoms and molecules. Penetrating power is the ability of an energetic particle to pass through matter. Now with these energetic particles, it's important that we shield ourselves from their effects because if they can get into our bodies, they start ionizing molecules and atoms inside of us. It can lead to some very dangerous and disastrous results.
So here we're talking about the alpha particle, let's talk about its particle symbol, and we know that it is 42 and then the alpha symbol or the helium symbol. Here we have basically our alpha decay reaction, which is the platinum 171 isotope decomposing to give us osmium 167. In terms of size, we say that the alpha particle is the largest of our energetic particles. Because it is the largest, its ionizing power is the highest. Now, luckily, because it's so large, it's hard for it to penetrate our skin. So we're going to say that it has the lowest penetrating power.
Now, what can shield us from the effects of an alpha particle? Well, because they're so large, it's easy to stop them in their plates. They can't get through nooks and crannies and crevices because they're so large. So things such as clothing can protect us from an alpha particle. Our skin, our skin is strong enough and and thick enough, and the alpha particle being so large it can't penetrate our skin. We can also say paper, even the air around us can act as a shield against alpha particles.
Now here we're going to say because of high ionizing power, alpha particles are considered the most damaging to biological tissues. Remember, they're very large. So because they're large, they're going to move very slowly if they get into our system, giving them ample time to ionize everything around them in terms of our biological tissue. So it's always imperative to make sure that something like this does not enter our bodies.
How could it enter us? Well, maybe alpha particles. You're in a nuclear facility or something and alpha particles contaminate your food and you ingest it. Can't protect yourself from that. Once you consume the food and it's inside of you, then again it can lead to very dasp like dangerous and disastrous results. Alright, so just keep in mind these fundamental ideas when it comes to the alpha particle in terms of its ionizing power and penetrating power.