physics

Health Physics Society

Health Physics Society is a physics topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Health Physics Society rather than just read about it. In short: The Health Physics Society (HPS) is a nonprofit scientific professional organization whose mission is excellence in the science and practice of radiation safety. It is based in the United States and the specific purposes of the society's activities include encouraging research in radiation science, developing standards, and disseminating radiation safety information.

Health Physics Society — illustration

Key takeaways

Health Physics Society belongs to physics; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Health Physics Society to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Health Physics Society from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Health Physics Society (HPS) is a nonprofit scientific professional organization whose mission is excellence in the science and practice of radiation safety. It is based in the United States and the specific purposes of the society's activities include encouraging research in radiation science, developing standards, and disseminating radiation safety information. Society members are involved in understanding, evaluating, and controlling potential risks from radiation relative to the benefits. The Society was formed in 1955, with an organizational meeting in June, 1955 at Ohio State University Columbus, Ohio. As of 2013, the membership consists of approximately 5,500 scientists, physicians, engineers, and other professionals. The headquarters are in McLean, VA. The society is an affiliate of the American Institute of Physics.

Activities It publishes Health Physics since 1958, a peer-reviewed scientific journal; Health Physics News for material of interest to members, and Operational Radiation Safety. It operates a public information website, "Radiation Answers", and has begun a series of special publications (The first, Radiation and Risk: Expert Perspectives was published in March 2012.) It holds its annual meeting in July, and a mid-year meeting in January or February. The society's archives are held at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

Organization The society has 37 geographically based chapters, all in the United States, except for one chapter in the Georgian Republic and one in Taiwan; there are 8 Sections on special interests.

Awards

Meetings The first annual meeting was held in 1956 at the University of Michigan and these meetings have been held every year since in different US cities.

History A new national scientific organization for health physicists was founded at a 3-day health physics conference at Ohio State University on 14 June 1955. The organization was temporarily named "Health Physics Society", and Karl Z. Morgan of the Health Physics Division of Oak Ridge National Laboratory was elected interim president. Other interim officers were Frederick P. Cowan (vice president) and Elda E. Anderson (secretary-treasurer).

Presidents of the Health Physics Society

See also American Academy of Health Physics, open only to those certified by the American Board of Health Physics. American Radium Society Radiation Research Society

References

External links Official website Radiation Answers, an information web site for the general public operated by the society American Institute of Physics

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Health Physics Society

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Health Physics Society claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In physics, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Health Physics Society before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Health Physics Society ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Health Physics Society

In research: Health Physics Society appears in physics research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Health Physics Society in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Health Physics Society is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1955 establishments in Ohio, Health Physics Society, Physics organizations, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Health Physics Society outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Health Physics Society in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Health Physics Society means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Health Physics Society out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Health Physics Society in simple terms?

Why does Health Physics Society matter?

Because it connects several physics ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Health Physics Society?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Health Physics Society.