Short Answer Radiation Experiment 1: Measure Background Radiation Lab Results Wh

ID: 533108 • Letter: S

Question

Short Answer

Radiation

Experiment 1: Measure Background Radiation

Lab Results

What did the Geiger counter read as the count for the background radiation?

Experiment 2: Measure Radiation Emitted by Radioactive Sources

Lab Results

Record the total radiation emitted by each of the samples in the table below.

Data Analysis

Calculate the radiation emitted by the source alone and record your results in the table below.

Did you detect a difference in the radiation levels between the intact smoke detector and the Americium-241 removed from the smoke detector? If so why do you think the smoke detector is designed with that difference?

Conclusions

Why is protection from radiation necessary?

Americium-241 primarily emits alpha radiation. The 241Am in your smoke detector is stored in a sealed chamber that is unlikely to break down or corrode over time. The seal can however be broken by the use of force such as using a hammer. In the unlikely event that someone in your vicinity takes a hammer to the smoke detector, how can you protect everyone from radiation?

Fiestaware is radioactive because the glaze used contains uranium oxide. The half-life of the uranium-238 isotope present in these dishes is about 4.5 billion years. This implies that most of the uranium-238 is still in the dishes and very little has decayed to emit ionizing radiation. Uranium-238 initially decays into thorium-234 and an alpha particle as shown in the background, but thorium-234 can further decay to emit beta particles and gamma radiation. What is the decay reaction of thorium-234?

Explanation / Answer

Sample

Radiation of the Source (cpm)

alpha radiation

1608

beta radiation

16300

gamma radiation

1994

smoke detector

lantern mantle

8000

fiestaware

americium-241

10000

KCl salt substitute

Calculate the radiation emitted by the source alone and record your results

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Yes,

when the smoke detector is measure it has no radiation detection but 40 and theAmericium-241 is 1040.

Conclusion

From this experiment I learned that it is important to protect yourself and lab members from the radiation of the lab due to the harmful effects of the UV rays.

I also learned how to measure different types of radiation and find the level of emission. Americium-241 decays intoneptunium-237 emitting an alpha particle.

A nuclear decay reaction has to occur before measuring nuclear radiation

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Why is protection from radiation necessary

Protection from radiation is important due to the biological effects of exposure to splitting cells