Autumn Jones

May 2, 2013

Nuclear Radiation Concepts Lab

The purpose of this lab was to experiment using alpha, beta, and gamma
sources. Three variables (time, distance, and shield) were tested and the results
were recorded.
The safety precautions were to handle all radioactive materials carefully and
wash your hands before leaving the lab. A given is to of course wear goggles. And to
not touch the open screen on the radiation monitor because the price to get a new
one is $400.
The materials needed for this lab were: alpha, beta, and gamma sources,
forceps (tweezers), radiation monitor, timer, ruler, 2 sheets of paper, 2 sheets of
aluminum, and 2 sheets of lead.
Some big concepts for this lab had to do with the relationship between
radiation and the variables. The more exposure time there is, the bigger the chance
radiation has of reaching the monitor. The shorter the distance, the more radiation
is reflected because theres less room for it to move elsewhere. As for shielding, the
denser the material is, the less radiation is detected. For example, paper allows
more radiation to be passed through than lead does. There is also that alpha
penetrates the least & gamma penetrates the most.
An error my group had was our radiation source being moved, resulting in us
having to do the test again. Another error was our timing. The times we hit the

stopwatch and monitor were sometimes off, so we would again have to do the test
over.
The only questions I had after the lab were; what material could be tested to
see if gamma rays could be shielded more? How many lead sheets would be needed
to shield gamma rays? And what are other variables that could have an effect on
the radiation? Why were betas counts so much higher in almost every variable
test? The first two can be easily tested, as long as enough lead sheets are available.
The third would probably require more research as well as other experiments. The
fourth question would take additional research as I looked it up and couldnt find
any answers.

Data Analysis
When comparing the data from the three tests, along with the three radiation
types, I noticed some recognizable differences. The alpha particles were easily
shielded as they went from 127 through air to 0 when paper was added. The alpha
rays were low in the other tests as well. In the distance test, moving the source
back a centimeter led the number to drop from 162 to zero. The beta radiation was
high in almost every test. That is, except for when lead was added as a shield. This
made the particles go from 1345 with two sheets of aluminum to 0 with one sheet
of led. That seems to be the only sudden change in beta. Gamma penetrated
through every shield with its counts consistently being in a range of 1000 to 2000.
The distance test made the counts drop from 146 to 44 when moved from 8
centimeters to 16. Although there was a slight drop, the numbers are still close.

Time (seconds)
20
40
60
80

Alpha
51
107
176
235

Beta
1530
2930
4015
5312

Gamma
528
1064
1637
2159

Shelf
1 cm.
2 cm.
4 cm.
8 cm.
16 cm.

Alpha
162
0
4
0
0

Beta
2569
1807
594
158
54

Gamma
1743
893
408
146
44

Shield
Air
Paper, 1 sheet
Paper, 2 sheets
Aluminum, 1 sheet
Aluminum, 2

Alpha
127
0
0
0
0

Beta
3259
3466
2827
1892
1345

Gamma
1637
1577
1475
1275
1440

sheets
Lead, 1 sheet
Lead, 2 sheets

0
0

0
0

1352
1101