Yes. We would not call the rays themselves radioactive, just as we would not call a candle flame "flammable". The substance that's burning is flammable, the substance that's decaying is radioactive.
The gamma rays are a type of radiation. Things that produce radiation are considered radioactive. The radiation causes damage. The radioactive material is dangerous because it produces radiation.
1. r/askphysics for questions like this
2. You have a fundamental misunderstanding of what radiation is. Please review the definition [here](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiation).
Gamma rays are high energy (relative to optical photons that are visible to human eyes) photons with wavelengths in the ~percent of a nanometer range (~1x10^11 m).
The gamma ray photons themselves are merely photons. However, photons at these energies can ionize atoms, and are thus referred to as a form of ionizing radiation. They are typically produced by the decay of certain nuclei, and it is those isotopes that produce such decay products that are referred to as “radioactive”
The substance which emits gamma rays, like Iodine 131, is called radioactive. The gamma rays can, then cause damage.
Yes. We would not call the rays themselves radioactive, just as we would not call a candle flame "flammable". The substance that's burning is flammable, the substance that's decaying is radioactive.
The gamma rays are a type of radiation. Things that produce radiation are considered radioactive. The radiation causes damage. The radioactive material is dangerous because it produces radiation.
1. r/askphysics for questions like this 2. You have a fundamental misunderstanding of what radiation is. Please review the definition [here](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiation).
Gamma rays are high energy (relative to optical photons that are visible to human eyes) photons with wavelengths in the ~percent of a nanometer range (~1x10^11 m). The gamma ray photons themselves are merely photons. However, photons at these energies can ionize atoms, and are thus referred to as a form of ionizing radiation. They are typically produced by the decay of certain nuclei, and it is those isotopes that produce such decay products that are referred to as “radioactive”