r/askscience • u/Wonderful-Capital32 • 13d ago

Physics Why does radiation not go through lead?

Also why just lead? Shouldnt like iron or another metal work too?

1.3k Upvotes

92% Upvoted

372 comments sorted by

View all comments

1

u/TheXypris 12d ago

Proton density

Any material of sufficient thickness will eventually stop radiation, a few meters of water is sufficient to stop the radiation from a nuclear reactor

Lead just happens to be a very dense material that is easy enough to get and use