Practical Activity: Radiation Penetration

Madhur Verma

Aim: What distance can different types of radiation penetrate through certain materials?

Risk Assessment

Risk Ratin
g
Minimisation
Contaminating hands Low Use gloves to hand radioactive samples
Spreading radioactivity Low Do not allow radioactive samples to become wet
etting samples in mouth Low !andle samples away from mouth

Equipment

"adiation detector #eiger Muller $ube Counter%
eiger Counter
&lpha Source
'eta Source
amma source
(aper
Lead foil
&luminium foil

Method

)* (lug the eiger Muller $ube into the counter and connect to a power supply*
+* "ecord a bac,ground radiation reading*
-* (lace the &lpha source directly in front of the tube. and record the number of counts
per second*
/* Move the source away from the tube until you obtain the bac,ground reading*
"ecord this distance* "ecord readings at 0. )0. 10 and a )00cm*
1* (lace the alpha source directly in front of the tube and insert a sheet of paper
between the source and the tube and repeat step /*
2* "epeat step 1 with lead foil and aluminium foil*
3* "epeat the e4periment with 'eta and amma sources*
Results
5nitial 'ac,ground "eading6 )- counts7s
Type of
Radiatio
n
Penetration distance -> ounts per minute Penetration Po!er
"#$M$%& ' ('cm )'cm (''cm
&lpha 3)2/ /+
-8 -2
L
'eta )9+
-2 -+ 10
M
amma
808
-/ -2 -+ !
Type of
Radiation
Penetration distance -> ounts per minute
&lpha +9/ +0 // /0
'eta )/+
++ -0 -8
amma 11/ 1/ -0 ++
Type of
Radiation
Penetration distance -> ounts per minute
&lpha 1/ -+ /0
-0
'eta -8
+/ -8 -8
amma -/+ -/ +0 )/
Type of
Radiation
Penetration distance -> ounts per minute
&lpha +)2 +2
-8 -+
'eta /0
+8 /0 -8
amma
8)/
/)8 ++0 +8

Analysis

)* Which source gave off the greatest count?

Alpha through air, right next to the source, had the highest count at 7164 counts per
minute.

+* Why is it necessary to record the bac,ground count?
Without the background count, the result may be contaminated as we would be
unaware of the radiation without a source. After measuring the background radiation,
we are able to subtract or compare the background radiation count from the result we
get and we are able to determine the naturalen!ironmental radiation and actual
radiation from the source.

-* What is the source of bac,ground radiation?
"ost background radiation in the #hysics lab comes from space and the sun. $he
ground also emits a natural radiation from the core of the earth.

/* Which source #&lpha. 'eta or amma% showed the greatest penetration through the
materials?
%amma was the best penetrator through paper, lead and aluminium foil. &or paper and
lead foil, it only penetrated when right next to the source, as after that the radiation was
mixed with the air and unable to be detected by the tube. &or aluminium foil howe!er, the
%amma was able to penetrate its radiation through e!en 1''cm of air.

1* Which source showed the greatest penetration through air?

Alpha had the highest count through air, howe!er after the tube was mo!ed a distance
away from the source, it was no longer able to tra!el to the tube and the count was
reduced.

2* 5f you were going to ma,e containers for each of the sources. what would you ma,e
each container out of?

(ontainers made out of lead would pre!ent most of the radiation emitted by all )
sources. *f radiation from 1'cm away was not a concern, than paper could do +ust as
well a +ob as lead. As could aluminium foil, except for %amma as this is able to
penetrate through it and continue through the air.

3* Why should we record - readings and then calculate the average. for this
e4periment?
,y repeating the experiment at least ) times and a!eraging the results, the reliability
can be increased as we are able to determine if we recei!e the same counts for e!ery
test. -utliers can also be a!oided as there may be unknownunwanted reasons for
random highs and lows in the count.
onclusion

&lpha radiators consist of fast moving positive helium atoms* $hese are high in energy and
in weight* Due to their large mass. they are easily stopped by paper or a few centimetres of
air. barely being able to penetrate any materials* 'eta particles consist of fast moving
electrons which are negatively charged* $hese electrons are much lighter that the helium
atoms of &lpha sources and are able to penetrate further. through meters of air and
centimetres of plastic or aluminium* amma particles are photons and have a very high
amount of energy* $hey can penetrate through aluminium foil and lead*
&s &lpha particles are positively charged. they are attracted to the negative end of an
electric field* !is is the same in reverse for 'eta particles. which are negatively charged and
attracted to the positive end of electric fields* amma rays however are neutral and
unaffected by electric fields* &lpha and 'eta are also deflected by magnetic fields in the
opposite direction
Type of Radiation * + ,
-hat is it. !elium nucleus #+
protons. + neutrons%
electron gamma photon
harge :+e ;)e no charge
Energy "typical& )0 MeV 0*0- to - MeV ) MeV
/peed "typical& 0*)c range up to 0*9c c
Penetration
"typical&
stopped by 1 cm of air
of 0*1 mm of paper
stopped by 0*1 cm of
aluminium
intensity halved
by )0 cm lead
0onisation effect high medium low
1eflected 2y
magnetic "B& field.
<es <es. opposite
direction to = particle
>o
1eflected 2y
Electric "E& field.
<es <es. opposite
direction to = particle
>o
$hrough these results. a relationship between particle si?e and penetration power is
demonstrated* 'eta particles are smaller than &lpha and amma particles are smaller than
'eta* $he smaller the si?e of the particles. the more7stronger material it is able to penetrate*
When a particle is smaller. it has a lower chance of colliding or interacting with other
particles such as protons. neutrons and electrons as atoms are primarily made up of space*
amma particles also have no charge i*e* they are neutral and do not interact with charged
particles* &s alpha particles are large in si?e. they are forced to rip through air atoms. losing
energy in the process*

E3tension @ eiger Counter
$he eiger Counter is able to detect ioni?ing
radiation including alpha. beta and gamma
radiation* 5t indicates the detection of an
individual particle by a distinctive clic,.
adding to the count* $he main feature of the
counter is the eiger Muller $ube which is
filled with an inert gas* 5t contains an anode
and a cathode electrode which are coated
with graphite* &s radiation coming from the
surrounding medium enters the $ube. it
ioni?es the gas inside. transforming it into
positively charged ions and electrons* $he
5mage ) and +6
"adiation around an electric and magnetic field respectively.
electrons travel towards the anode of the tube detector and the positive ions move towards
the cathode end* &s positive ions move towards the cathode detector. they collide with left
over inert gas. producing more ions* $his creates an electrical current between the two
electrodes*
$he current created between the electrodes can be collected.
amplified and counted by the eiger counter* enerally the
current is counted and played as a short acoustic sound
signal made out of clic,s* $he clic,s respond to the detection
of a single ion* eiger Muller tubes are generally made of
Mica as it is able to detect alpha particles. unli,e glass.
however it is easily damaged* Most eiger counter are not
sensitive to neutrons however can be modified to detect them
with the addition of a coat of 'oron*
0mage References
5mage ). + and table from6
http.www.s/cool.co.uka/le!elphysicsradioacti!ityre!ise/iteffect/of/magnetic/and/
electric/field
5mage for A4tension #)st para%6 http.depletedcranium.comgeigerdiagram.+pg
#+nd para%6
http677www*diyphysics*com7+0)+70-7-07testing;electronic;goldmines;giant;super;sensitive;
geiger;muller;tube;mc27
"adhur 0erma