Experiment 2: Basic Nuclear Counting Statistics

Purpose
The purpose of this experiment is to introduce the student to counting statistics and uncertainty
propagation for radiation detection applications. Knowing the uncertainty in a calculation is often just as
important as the calculations itself.

Description
Nuclear radiation measurements are statistical in nature. When speaking of a finite number of
measurements, one cannot in effect determine the true mean; rather one can only estimate it. For the
binomial, normal (Gaussian), Poisson, and interval distribution, it can be shown that our best estimation
to the true mean is simply the arithmetic average x ;

1
N

x
i 1

(1)

When the number of measurements N approaches infinity, x approaches to the true mean. Our best
estimation to the standard deviation of a distribution in terms of our finite number of observations (N) is
;

1 N
( xi x ) 2

N 1 i 1

(2)

The (N-1) in the denominator is correlated with the number of "degree of freedom". From N independent
observations of xi (the number of counts for the ith observation), there are originally N independent
equations. This number is reduced by one when is computed from Eq. (2.1); thus there are only (N-1)
independent data from which to compute the standard deviation. The quantity 2 is called the sample
variance. The physical meaning of the standard deviation is to specify the degree of dispersion in a data
set. For a Gaussian distribution, 68% of all measurements will lie in the band of x + and x - . In other
words, it is expected that one out of three of the measurements will fall outside of the band x .
It can also be shown that for a Poisson distribution, the result of a single observation is to be reported as:
where =

(3)

There are three main error propagation equations that should be remembered when performing algebraic
operations with values which have uncertainty associated with them.
When multiplying a variable x by a constant A, the uncertainty in x is also multiplied by the same constant,
as show below;
1

(4)

(5)

When adding or subtracting two variables, x and y, each of which contains uncertainty, the sum or
difference in the uncertainty of this calculations is show below;
= + or =

(6)

= 2 + 2

(7)

When multiplying or dividing two variables, x and y, each of which contains uncertainty, the product or
quotient in the uncertainty of this calculations is show below;
= or =

(8)

2
2
= ( ) + ( )

(9)

Often when performing radiation measurements the total amount of time available to make
measurements (both background and the sample) is limited. In order to determine the optimal time to
spend on the source and the background measurements, the below equations can be used.
+
+
=

(10)

where TS+B is the measurement time of the source, TB is the measurement time of the background, S+B is
the source with background count rate, and B is the background count rate.
Another common requirement which occurs when performing measurements is the total amount of time
needed to achieve a particular uncertainty. The equation below can be used to determine the required
time.
2

2 ( + + ) 1
( ) =

(11)

where S is the background subtracted count rate and T is the total measurement time (background time
+ source time).
Equations 3, 5, 7, 9, 10, and 11 are very useful in radiation measurements when performing common data
analysis, such as converting from counts to a count rate, subtracting background, forming ratios of
measured values, determine optimal counting times, and minimum counting time.

Equipment
-

NaI detector
PC with WinSPEC software installed
Multichannel analyzer (MCA) with cables
Gamma check source (1 Ci)

Procedures
Part 1: equipment and software setup
Connect the MCA to the PC with a USB cable. Connect the MCA to the NaI detector using the signal and
high voltage cables. Turn on the MCA. On the PC start the WinSPEC software. Do not reset Mini MCA
and clear all spectra (Click no). Set the high voltage by going to the Setup High voltage tab. Enter
the correct high voltage value (750V or 800V) and set the HV inhibitor signal to unused. Ask the
instructor for the correct high voltage value. Every detector is different and may require different
voltages. Verify that all the cables are connected and the high voltage value is correct. Apply the high
voltage by clicking OK. Verify that the Input polarity is set to negative under the Setup Amplifier
tab.

Part 2: Background measurement (Eqs. 4 and 5)

Before performing any measurements, it is a good idea to take a long background measurement. Under
the Setup Presets tab set the live time value to 300s. Ensure that there are no radioactive sources
nearby then click start (F4) to start the measurement. After the measurement finishes record the
Integral value (total counts) and calculate the values below.
Background counts: _______________________________
Background count uncertainty: _______________________________
Background measurement live time: _______________________________
Background count rate: _______________________________
Background count rate uncertainty: _______________________________

Part 3: Radiation source measurement (Eqs. 6 and 7)

Acquire a radiation check source (1 Ci) and place it approximately 5cm from the front of the detector. If
there are other radioactive sources try to shield your detector from them. Clear the current spectra in
WinSPEC and start a new 300s measurement. This newly acquired spectrum includes counts from both
3

the source and the background. Fill in the values below and calculate the background subtracted count
rate and uncertainty.
Source counts:_______________________________
Source count uncertainty: _______________________________
Source measurement live time: _______________________________
Source count rate: _______________________________
Source count rate uncertainty: _______________________________
Background subtracted count rate: _______________________________
Background subtracted count rate uncertainty: _______________________________

Part 4: Ratio of radiation counts (Eqs. 8 and 9)

Often when analyzing and presenting data it is useful to form ratios of counts. This makes it easier to see
which data points are outliers, if the data is statistically accurate, and if there is a bias in the
measurements. Without moving the radiation source or the detector change the measurement life time
to 10s. Clear the current spectrum and take a 10 second measurement. Record the data in the table
below and take another 4 measurements at 10s each.
Cycle

Counts
Count uncertainty
Measurement life time
count rate
count rate uncertainty
Background subtracted
count rate
Background subtracted
count rate uncertainty

After filling in the above table, calculate the ratio of each short 10s count divided by the previous long 5
minute count. Propagate uncertainties and plot the results.
4

Cycle

Background subtracted
short/long count rate
Background subtracted
short/long count rate
uncertainty

Does there appear to be any outliers in your 10s measurements?

Is 68% of the short count data within 1 sigma of the long count data?
Is 95% of short count the data within 2 sigma of the long count data?
Is 99.7% short count of the data within 3 sigma of the long count data?
Is there a bias in your results?

Part 5: Optimal counting time (Eqs. 10 and 11)

Using the count rate data determined in Parts 2 and 3, determine what the optimal amount of time
should be for measuring the background and measuring the source if the total measurement time
cannot exceed 600s.
Background measurement real time: _______________________________
Source measurement real time: _______________________________
Perform a background measurement and source measurement using the optimal real times determined
above. Calculate the background subtracted count rate and uncertainty for these optimal time
measurements. Are your background subtracted uncertainties smaller than those previously determined
in part 3?
Background subtracted count rate: _______________________________
Background subtracted count rate uncertainty: _______________________________
If you needed your uncertainty to be 0.1%, how long should your total measurement time be
(background time + source time)?
Total measurement time to achieve 0.1% uncertainty: _______________________________

What other things could be done to reduce the background subtracted uncertainties without counting
long?
Turn off the high voltage, close the WinSPEC program, and turn off the MCA.

Example plot:

Ratio of short/long count rate

1.04
1.03
1.02
1.01
1.00
0.99
0.98
0.97

0.96
1

Measurement cycle

Figure 1: Background subtracted count rate ratios of short counts to long counts.