<<Back				What causes Radon?
								Radon is a naturaly occuring gas, meaning that it comes from the ground, naturally.  It comes from the elements: Uranium and Thorium.  Uranium is commonly found in soil.   However, it can also come from igneous rock, or water from wells.  Sometimes it may even be in drinking water from a water fountain or something similar, but is more common in well water.  You may wonder how it gets into the water from the soil.  The answer is really quite simple, the well water is simply water from the ground, right?
			^A picture of the element on the periodic table^
	Well, the soil slowly enters the water, along with this amount of soil entering, the radon enters the water too. But, it is only small ammounts.      The small particles of Uranium slowly break down into radium.  After a while, the radium turns into radon.  Radon also under-goes a disintigration process.  This is sometimes called the "daughters" of radon.  They are the decay products of radon.  They may also sometimes be called "progeny" or just "decay products".      The amount of radon is more concentrated in underground mines as opposed to the average American home.       The radiation that is caused by radon is also found in other elements like Plutonium.  This type of radiation is called Alpha radiation.  Alpha radiation is the weakest of the three main types of radiation. Meaning that it can't pass through a thick sheet of paper or anything stronger.  Gamma rays are the strongest, they can pass through aluminun, wood, and paper.  It can not pass through materials as thick or as strong as concrete or lead.
	Radon is also the heaviest known gas.  It is nine times denser then air.  It is also made of only one atom, where water and air are made of two atoms, so radon can pass through things that air couldn't.  Paper, leather, thin plastic like plastic bags, many paints, building materials like sheetrock, concrete, mortar, tarpaper, wood, insulation are some examples.  These are just to name a few.
	>Illustration of the three main types of radiation>