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

Published: 29 September 2022
on channel: Branch Education

1,125,440

24k

Check out https://www.pcbway.com/ for all kinds of PCBs, easy ordering, and quick delivery.
Take a look at their PCB Assembly, for an inexpensive population of the components on your PCBs.
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.

Do you want to support in-depth engineering and technology education? Support us on:   / brancheducation

Website: www.branch.education
On Facebook:   / brancheducation
On Twitter:   / teddytablante
On Insta:   / brancheducation

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-co...

How do Smoke Detectors Work? https://home.howstuffworks.com/home-i...

Ionization Detectors https://circuitcellar.com/wp-content/...

Ionization vs Photoelectric https://www.nfpa.org/Public-Education...

Smoke Detector Circuit https://www.electroschematics.com/smo...

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

Watch video Why are Smoke Detectors Radioactive? And How do Smoke Detectors Work? online, duration hours minute second in high quality that is uploaded to the channel Branch Education 29 September 2022. Share the link to the video on social media so that your subscribers and friends will also watch this video. This video clip has been viewed 1,125,440 times and liked it 24 thousand visitors.

1,776