Stochastic vs. Deterministic - Video Lesson

Hey, everybody. Welcome back. This lesson discusses the stochastic and deterministic effect of radiation exposure. Radiation has the ability to cause a wide range of damaging effects, including cancer, cataracts, skin burns, hair loss, diminished sperm count, and many more. All of these damaging effects can be organized into just two categories. Stochastic effects, and deterministic effects. The only significant stochastic effect is cancer. The word stochastic simply means random and unpredictable, which is a good description of radiation induced cancer. Everyone is exposed to radiation, but only some actually develop cancer from the radiation. It's impossible to know who will develop radiation induced cancer, which is why we describe this effect as stochastic. It's random and unpredictable