Abstract
Various ionizing radiations, such as electrons and alpha particles, transfer their energy to media by produced secondary electrons and induce double- or single-strand break of DNA, which result in variable effects. To understand how the ionizing radiations interact with DNA and break it, several models have been developed, most of them consider the water as a vapor state. Actually, the ionizing particles interact with DNA which is solved in liquid water. To compare the difference of vapor and liquid water models, we calculate the stopping power, continuous slowing down approximation (CSDA) range and S value of electrons and alpha particles at cellular scale in liquid and vapor by Monte Carlo simulations, respectively. Our data show that the stopping power and CSDA range are different in liquid and vapor water in a special energy range. For many S values, the liquid model is better than the vapor model when the energy of the electrons is higher than 100 keV and the vapor model is higher than the liquid model for the 1 MeV alpha particles.