Handling, Detecting, and Measuring Radiation: Choong Heng Jie, P-ZM0020/18

Choong Heng Jie, P-ZM0020/18
HANDLING, DETECTING, AND MEASURING RADIATION
Abstract
In this experiment, it shows lead is a suitable material for shielding by successfully attenuated
the radiation rays by at least 20 ± 2.8% at the first part of the experiment. Besides, the way of
handling minor spill of radiation solution also discussed in this experiment. At next part, it shows
that ways for calibrating the single channel analyzer (SCA) by adjusting coarse gain and fine
gain using Caesium-137 (Cs-137) as the reference. The SCA operates optimality with coarse
gain and fine gain at 150 and 5, respectively. Using the calibrated gains, the spectrum of Cobalt-
60 (Co-60) is plotted for two different data collecting time (50 seconds and 200 seconds). Also,
the increase of coarse gain and fine gain would decrease the count rate of the radiation source.
The alpha counter efficiency also determined, it has efficiency of 6.37%. Using the same alpha
counter, the monazite’s decay constant and half-life are calculated. The values of decay constant
and half-life are 7.1929 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑 −1 and 0.09637 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑, respectively.
Introduction
Characteristic of Gamma Emission [6]
It is rays that consisted of high-energy photons (about 10 000 times more than visible photons)
and has the traveling speed same as light. Since, gamma is made up of photons, so it is no mass
and no electrical charge. Thus, it can only ionize matter indirectly. There are several interactions
that could expect to occur at the matter such as photoelectric effect, Compton scattering, and pair
production. Also, the gamma radiation has a high penetration due to it high-energy photons.
Thus, it needs to be shielded by dense materials (high atomic number) such as lead or uranium.
Unlike x-ray which produced which by deceleration of ejected electron interact with a target
material, gamma radiation is emitted from the nucleus by transitioning from exciting state to the
ground state at the nucleus. The emission of gamma ray normally accompanies by alpha and/or
beta radiation.
Characteristic of Beta Emission [5]

It is high-energy, high-speed electron or positron particle (Beta particle). Since, beta emission is
a process that emit beta particles. Hence, it would cause directly ionization when interacting with
matter. There are two types of decay for beta emission which are electron decay and positron
decay. Electron decay would occur when the unstable atom has excess neutrons to be stable.
During the electron decay, the neutron would convert the neutron in the nucleus to proton and
electron. After the conversion, the electron is emitted from the atom along with antineutrino due
to the conservation of momentum. Whereas, positron decay takes place when atom lack of
neutrons to reach stable. During the positron decay, the proton would turn into neutron by
ejecting positron. Due to the conservation of momentum, the positron decay would emit positron
along with neutrino.
P a g e 1 | 15
The beta emission emits charge particles (electrons and positrons) that are light and have single
charge. Since, the beta emission emits charge particles, the particles would produce
bremsstrahlung radiation when interact with high atomic number matter. Hence, low atomic
number materials are suitable to use as shielding.
Characteristic of Alpha Emission [4]

It emits alpha particles which are energetic nuclei of helium and relatively heavy compare to beta
particles. It also has double positive charge. Having pure alpha emission is a rare occasion, alpha
decay would normally emit gamma radiation. Since, alpha emission produces alpha particles, it
would interact with matter primarily through coulomb forces and may ionize or excite the matter.
Due to its heavy particles that emitted during the alpha emission, the heavy charge particles
would travel in a short range when interacting with matter. Thus, it loses energies quicker than
other emissions.
Valley of stability (nucleus stability curve) [7]

It is graph that assist in determining what is the likelihood of radioisotope is likely to decay by
looking at its position on the neutron-proton curve graph.
Figure 1: Stability Curve used to determine the possible decay of an isotope.

Based on Figure 1, it shows that the isotope would be stable if the ratio of neutron and proton
number equals to 1 for atoms having the atomic number from 1 to 20. For atoms that have
atomic number more than 20, the neutron and proton ratio is likely to 1.5 as shown in Figure 1
with the “stability line”. For atom having atomic number that is more than 82 (Lead), the atom
would emit alpha particles. Besides, the atom would have negative beta decay (electron decay) if
the atom has more neutron (above stability line). Any atom which is below the stability line
would emit positon particles (known as positive beta decay).
P a g e 2 | 15
Radiation Interaction [2]
Figure 2: Graph shows the dominant interaction that take place at various atomic number and
photon energy.
There are three interaction of ionizing photon with the matter such as photoelectric effect,
Compton effect, and Pair production. These interactions are important as it helps in determine
the energy transferred to electrons of the matter. The interactions are determined by the photon
energy (𝐸 = ℎ𝜈) and atomic number (Z) of the absorbing material. By using graph as shown in
Figure 2, the predominates effect can be determined with known E and Z. The photoelectric
effect is highly to occur when photon energy is low, and the absorbing material has high atomic
number. Compton effect would require more photon energy than photoelectric effect needs; Pair
production needs more photon energy than Compton effect to take place. By knowing the
possible interaction, it can find out the best material for shielding.
(𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑐 𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟)3
NOTE: 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑏𝑎𝑏𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑝ℎ𝑜𝑡𝑜𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑐 ∝ (𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦)3
Objective
1. To investigate the characteristic of gamma, beta, and alpha rays.
2. To investigate the relationship between energy, E of source and its count rate.
3. To determine the efficiency of the counter.
P a g e 3 | 15
Apparatus and Tools

1. Sodium Iodide (NaI) Scintillator: it is used to detect the high radiation rays such as
gamma-rays and high energy beta-rays.
2. Single Channel Analyzer (SCA): it is used to collect the pulses (counts) at a certain time
period (can be manual set) that is detected by NaI scintillator.
3. Alpha Counter: it is used for detecting the alpha particles emitted by radiation source by
collecting the counts of the disintegration.
4. Survey Meter: it is used to detect variety of radiation such as Alpha particles, Beta
particles, and Gamma-rays in the unit of micro-sievert per hour (𝜇𝑆𝑣/ℎ).
5. Microsoft Excel: it is used to record the collected data and plot graphs for analyzing.
Result and Discussion (refer to miscellaneous section for raw data)

Part 1: Radiation Protection and Handling
Material Co-60 Am-241 Monazite Cs-137

Reading without lead apron, 𝜇𝑆𝑣/ℎ (±10% 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒) 0.25 0.75 1.1 1.3
Reading with lead apron, 𝜇𝑆𝑣/ℎ (±10% 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒) 0.1 0.15 0.7 0.7
Attenuated percentage, % (±14% 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒) 40 20 64 54
Table 1: It shows the reading of different radiation sources (Co-60, Am-241, Monazite, and Cs-
137). The radiation source reading (𝜇𝑆𝑣/ℎ) obtained using survey meter with and without the
lead apron. [9]
From Table 1, it compares the reading of various type of radiation sources (in 𝜇𝑆𝑣/ℎ) before and
after being shielded with a lead apron. As shown on the table, the radiation dose is significantly
reduced after lead apron is applied. The radiation sources have been attenuated with an at least
20% ± 2.8%.
Notice that lead is the suitable material for shielding due to it high atomic number. In stability
curve lead is the most stable material which does not emit radiation rays and particles while
having high atomic number at the same time. Having high atomic number material, the
interaction with low energy radiation source is most probably photoelectric effect due to the
photoelectric effect probability is directly proportional to the cubic of atomic number and
inversely to the cubic to radiation energy (𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑏𝑎𝑏𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑝ℎ𝑜𝑡𝑜𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑐 ∝
(𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑐 𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟)3
(𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦) 3
). This can be determined with by the interaction curve as mentioned at
Introduction section. With the photoelectric effect taking places, the radiation rays and particles
will be attenuated.
In most institute radiation labs which contained various energies of radiation source would have
shielding composed from lead. At University of Science Malaysia (USM)’s biophysics lab, the
shielding used are as followed: lead apron, lead gloves, lead glasses, and lead protecting board.
Each of this shielding is mean to be worn on an individual while handling the radiation sources
P a g e 4 | 15
except lead protecting board. Lead protecting board is used to shield the x-ray being exposed to
the operator while operating the x-ray machine.
When handling the radiation source, an individual is advisable to equip him/herself with lead
apron, lead gloves (or disposable gloves for more hand mobility), lead glasses, and lead thyroid
shield. Besides, putting on a lab coats or clothes that cover exposed skin is a good step as any
radiation spill will most probably spilled onto the clothes instead of bare skin. Also, avoid using
petroleum-based hand creams is needed to consider. This is because, petroleum-based hand
creams would increase the permeability of the gloves that put on and it would increase the
exposure of the radiation source handler. [8]
When working on a radiation source, the work space is recommended in a working chamber
which the work surface is covered with protective and absorbent bench paper. The purpose of
having the absorbent paper is to ensure the droplets of contamination is trapped by it.
In most case, minor spilling may happen once in awhile when handling radioactive solution.
Hence, to handle this minor contamination, following steps need to be taken [10]:
1. Prepare supplies such as lab coat, sturdy disposable gloves, paper towels, decon solution,
rad waste container, survey meter, and/or shoe covers (if necessary/ appropriate
procedure).
2. Put on the lab coat, gloves, and shoe covers before the cleaning process.
3. Use survey meter to locate the contaminated area.
4. Mark the contaminated area with tape or any appropriate marking technique.
5. Clean the contaminated area from the edge towards the center of it (work inward) using
absorbent paper towels.
Note, the paper towels and gloves need to change frequently to avoid smearing
contamination around.
6. Survey all individual’s hands, lab coats, and shoes who involved during the cleaning-up.
7. Record the clean-up and the survey of who involved in the lab survey log.
P a g e 5 | 15
Part 2: Radiation Detection and Measurements of Radiation

(a) Gamma
(i) Calibration using Cs-137
Source: Caesium-137, Cs-137, (Gamma Energy: 661.7 keV); Background count rate is 6 counts
per second.
Graph 1: The graphs {(a) to (d)} show the relationship of count rates and energies for Cs-137 at
different setting of fine gains: 1, 2, 3, and 5 respectively with a fixed coarse gain at 150.
From Graph 1, it shows the spectrum of Cs-137 that is detected from NaI Scintillator with
various setting of fine gain (1,2,3, and 5 respectively) and coarse gain at 150. The data points are
obtained with different energy level but having the same different of energy window size (∆𝐸 =
0.1). As the fine gain of SCA increases, the signal (pulse height) generated from the source is
expected to be increase. With the increase of pulse height, the count rate at different energy
would increase. However, the increase of pulse height is very significant for low count rate than
P a g e 6 | 15
high count rate. Hence, with higher fine gain the resolution for the spectrum would be decreased
and the spectrum would be hard to be studied/ analyzed. Thus, from graph 1, it is observed that
graph 1(d) is having an optimal setting to obtain the Cs-137 spectrum due to the significate
different of between high and low count rate. Also, there is the present of a peak with a
noticeable deviation from the peak (also known as resolution), which able to show the gamma
energy mostly emitted by Cs-137. Whereas, graph 1(a) and graph 1(b) hardly show the peak of
the spectrum. As for graph 1(c), it has low resolution for the spectrum as there is a present of
more than one peak for gamma-rays. This is not possible as Cs-137 only emit gamma-rays at
energy of 661.7 keV.
(ii) Detecting Co-60 spectrum

Source: Cobalt-60, Co-60, (Gamma Energies: 1173 keV and 1332 keV); Background count rate
is 3 counts per second
Co-60 Spectrum; 50 seconds for each points

25
20
count rate, cps
15
10
5
0
-5 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2
Energy
Graph 2(a): Co-60 count rate at different energy windows with coarse gain of 150 and fine gain
of 5. The count for each point is collected within 50 seconds.
Co-60 Spectrum; 200 seconds for each points

25
20
count rate, cps
15
10
5
0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2
-5
Energy
Graph 2(b): Co-60 count rate at different energy windows with coarse gain of 150 and fine gain
of 5. The count for each point is collected within 200 seconds.
P a g e 7 | 15
The setting of SCA that is used for collecting the count of Co-60 is coarse gain at 150 and fine
gain at 5 as discussed at previous section [(i) Calibration using Cs-137]. From Graph 2(a) and
2(b), they show the spectrum of Co-60 with each data points collected at different time interval.
Graph 2(a) collects each data points at 50 seconds and 2(b) collected at 200 seconds. The
spectrum of Co-60 is more significate when the time of data collecting is more. Since, Co-60 has
gamma emission at 1173 keV and 1332 keV. Hence, two peaks are expected to appear at the
spectrum of Co-60. The peaks are getting obvious when the data collecting time at 200 seconds
than 50 seconds. Those two peaks appear at the energy windows of E = 0.2 and E = 0.4. From
graphs, the count rate appear at negative region for low count rate is due to the high background
count. The high background count may cause by the environment and present of unexpected
radiation source around the lab.
(b) Beta
Source: Strontium-90, Sr-90, (Beta Energy: 546 keV); Windowing, ∆𝐸 = 0.1.
Different of background
Coarse Average Background Average Sr-90 count and Sr-90 count rate,
gain Fine gain count rate, cps rate, cps cps
1 1652 2097 445
50 3 2150 2173 23
5 2220 1987 -233
7 2116 1752 -364
9 1959 1523 -436
1 2130 1720 -410
100 3 1794 1315 -479
5 1484 1031 -453
7 1217 840 -377
9 1016 700 -316
Table 2: It shows the average count rate for the background and the Sr-90 with coarse gain of 50
and 100 at different fine gain.
Table 2 shows the count rates obtained with two different coarse gain (50 and 100) at various
fine gain. By doubling the coarse gain, the count rates collected are decrease by two times.
Whereas, the increase of fine gain would also decrease the count rate but not significate. Notice,
the background count rate is more compare to the present of Sr-90. The reason for the unusual
phenomena occurred is the small windowing, ∆𝐸 = 0.1. With the small window, the electric
signal from SCA may easily interrupt and indirectly increase the background counts.
P a g e 8 | 15
(c) Alpha
Source: Americium-241, Am-241, (Alpha Energy: 5.486 MeV); background count rate is 1 count
per second.
Average count rate, cps Disintegration rate, dps per gram Efficiency, %
5473 171.57E03 6.38
Table 3: It shows the average count rate and disintegration rate of Am-241. By comparing two
average count rate and disintegration rate the efficiency is calculated as shown. The
disintegration rate is obtained from the lab technician’s inventory list.
Source: Monazite; background count rate is 1 count per second.
Monazite count rate vs weight

8
7 y = 7.1929x
R² = 0.9567
6
Count Rate, cps
5
4
3
2
1
0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2
Weight, g
Graph 3: Graph of count rate, cps, versus weight, g, of monazite.
From Table 3, it shows that the efficiency of the Alpha Counter using Am-241 as the radiation
source. The efficiency is determined by following equation [2]:
𝐷𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑠 − 𝐵𝑎𝑐𝑘𝑔𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑠
𝐸𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑦, % = ∗ 100%
0.5 ∗ 𝐴𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑙 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛
Note that, Actual disintegration of Am-241 is divided by two with the reason that the
disintegration of alpha particles is isotropic, and the counter only detect one of the two surfaces
of the Am-241 source. The calculated efficiency is about 6.38%. This low efficiency may be due
to the calibration of Alpha Counter. Also, knowing the actual disintegration rate of radiation
source is part of the factor that affect the calculation.
P a g e 9 | 15
From Graph 3, it shows the relationship of the count rate and weight of monazite expressed with
a linear equation of 𝑦 = 7.1929𝑥 and Chi-Square, 𝑅2 = 0.9567. As the weight of the monazite
increase, the count rate of the monazite would be increase linearly. From this linear relation, it
can determine the decay constant, 𝜆, of the monazite and eventually the half-life of monazite,
𝑇1/2 . Since, an activity of a radiation source is defined as the number of disintegrations taking
place at a certain amount of time [1]. Hence, the activity would be more with the present of more
radioactive particles. In mathematically form, it is represented as followed:
𝐴𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑦 = 𝜆 ∗ 𝑁
Such that 𝜆 = 𝑑𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑦 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡
𝑁 = 𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑜𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑙𝑒𝑠 (𝑑𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝑤𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡)
Comparing the linear equation as shown on Graph 3 and activity’s equation. The monazite has
the decay constant, 𝜆 = 7.1929 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑 −1 . Hence, the half-life of this radioactive monazite is
calculated as followed:
ln(2) ln(2)
𝑇1/2 = = = 0.09637 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑
𝜆 7.1929 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑 −1
Conclusion
The radiation shielding that used in USM’s biophysics is mainly composed of lead due to the
radioactive stability and high atomic number. Also, when handling radioactive source, it is
advisable to put on clothes that cover the bare skin as much as possible.
To get an optimum reading using NaI scintillator and Single Channel Analyzer (SCA) is having
the coarse gain of 150 and fine gain of 5. This calibration is done using Cs-137 as it only emits
gamma at 661.7 keV. Using the setting the Co-60 is plotted and has successfully show the
gamma emitted at two different peaks. However, the background count rate is higher than the
count rate when the Co-60 radioactive source is presented. This may be caused by the electric
noise of SCA and NaI scintillator while operating them.
As for beta detection using NaI scintillator and analyzed with SCA, the background is much
higher than when the present of Sr-90 as the radiation source. This is due to the small windowing
of SCA and caused the electric noise interrupting the background reading by increasing it
significantly. In other words, the background readings obtained are mostly coming from the
electric noise from the machine.
Next, the alpha counter that used for detecting the count for Am-241 and monazite is having an
extremely low efficiency of 6.37%. This may be caused by calibration of the alpha counter
and/or the disintegration rate of Am-241 (used for determined the efficiency). Using the same
alpha counter, the monazite decay constant and half-life is calculated as 7.1929 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑 −1 and
0.09637 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑, respectively.
P a g e 10 | 15
Miscellaneous
Count 1, counts Count 2, counts Count 3, counts Average count per second, cps
112 132 102 6
Table 4: Recorded background counts at coarse gain of 150 for 20 seconds and applied in Cs-
137’s data
Different of
Average count source and
count 1, count 2, count 3, per second, background,
E lower E upper counts counts counts cps cps
0.0 0.1 10450 10408 10460 522 516
0.1 0.2 9190 9116 9168 458 452
0.2 0.3 74 53 63 3 -3
0.3 0.4 25 24 18 1 -5
0.4 0.5 12 15 12 1 -5
0.5 0.6 5 7 5 0 -5
0.6 0.7 2 1 3 0 -6
0.7 0.8 0 0 1 0 -6
0.8 0.9 0 1 0 0 -6
0.9 1.0 1 1 0 0 -6
Table 5: Recorded counts of Cs-137 at coarse gain of 150 and fine gain of 1 for 20 seconds. The
data is used to plot Graph 1(a).
Different of
Average source and
count per background,
E lower E upper count 1 count 2 count 3 second, cps cps
0.0 0.1 8672 8473 8686 431 425
0.1 0.2 10763 10596 10652 534 528
0.2 0.3 372 349 355 18 12
0.3 0.4 51 31 38 2 -4
0.4 0.5 22 18 17 1 -5
0.5 0.6 12 11 12 1 -5
0.6 0.7 3 5 5 0 -6
0.7 0.8 4 3 4 0 -6
0.8 0.9 1 2 1 0 -6
0.9 1.0 0 2 0 0 -6
Table 6: Recorded counts of Cs-137 at coarse gain 150 and fine gain 2 for 20 seconds. The data
is used to plot Graph 1(b).
P a g e 11 | 15
Different of
Average count source and
E lower E upper count 1 count 2 count 3 per second, cps background, cps
0 0.1 7536 7631 7554 379 373
0.1 0.2 4862 4847 4903 244 238
0.2 0.3 7045 7071 7053 353 347
0.3 0.4 42 60 49 3 -3
0.4 0.5 21 33 21 1 -5
0.5 0.6 13 15 13 1 -5
0.6 0.7 4 3 3 0 -6
0.7 0.8 1 3 3 0 -6
0.8 0.9 3 1 3 0 -6
0.9 1 1 2 1 0 -6
is used to plot Graph 1(c).
Different of
Average source and
0 0.1 5232 5248 5322 263 258
0.1 0.2 6404 6528 6480 324 318
0.2 0.3 8655 8468 8613 429 423
0.3 0.4 538 577 650 29 24
0.4 0.5 38 38 37 2 -4
0.5 0.6 27 27 26 1 -4
0.6 0.7 10 11 12 1 -5
0.7 0.8 8 7 5 0 -5
0.8 0.9 4 3 4 0 -6
0.9 1 3 3 2 0 -6
is used to plot Graph 1(d).
P a g e 12 | 15
167 161 164 3
Table 9: Recorded background counts at coarse gain of 150 for 50 seconds and applied in Co-
60’s data
Different of
Average source and
0 0.1 1076 1061 1068 21 18
0.1 0.2 1361 1295 1320 27 23
0.2 0.3 877 855 863 17 14
0.3 0.4 870 806 872 17 14
0.4 0.5 760 753 755 15 12
0.5 0.6 614 623 618 12 9
0.6 0.7 61 59 58 1 -2
0.7 0.8 20 21 19 0 -3
0.8 0.9 15 19 17 0 -3
0.9 1 16 14 15 0 -3
Table 10: Recorded counts of Co-60 at coarse gain 150 and fine gain 5 for 50 seconds. The data
is used to plot Graph 2(a).
Different of
Average source and
0 0.1 4828 4725 4839 24 21
0.1 0.2 5125 5200 5167 26 23
0.2 0.3 3219 3130 3180 16 13
0.3 0.4 3474 3565 3460 17 14
0.4 0.5 3256 3120 3189 16 13
0.5 0.6 2494 2323 2485 12 9
0.6 0.7 219 205 223 1 -2
0.7 0.8 84 90 92 0 -3
0.8 0.9 82 75 70 0 -3
0.9 1 47 49 50 0 -3
Table 11: Recorded counts of Co-60 at coarse gain 150 and fine gain 5 for 200 seconds. The data
is used to plot Graph 2(b).
P a g e 13 | 15
118 110 133 1
Table 12: Recorded background counts of alpha counter for 2 minutes. The value of average
count per second is applied in Am-241’s and monazite’s data
622733 672671 674750 5473
Table 13: Recorded counts of Am-241 for 2 minutes. The data is used to calculate the efficiency
of alpha counter.
Different of source and

Weight, g Count 1, counts Count 2, counts Count 3, counts background, cps
0.1 294 272 283 1
0.2 350 373 369 2
0.3 436 432 434 3
0.4 516 523 518 3
0.5 554 563 543 4
0.6 660 636 669 4
0.7 700 712 693 5
0.8 797 815 790 6
0.9 897 888 869 6
1.0 957 935 948 7
Table 14: Recorded counts of monazite at different weight for 2 minutes. The data is used to plot
Graph 3.
P a g e 14 | 15
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Handling, Detecting, and Measuring Radiation: Choong Heng Jie, P-ZM0020/18

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HANDLING, DETECTING, AND MEASURING RADIATION

Characteristic of Beta Emission [5]

Characteristic of Alpha Emission [4]

Valley of stability (nucleus stability curve) [7]

Figure 1: Stability Curve used to determine the possible decay of an isotope.

Radiation Interaction [2]

Apparatus and Tools

Result and Discussion (refer to miscellaneous section for raw data)

Material Co-60 Am-241 Monazite Cs-137

Part 2: Radiation Detection and Measurements of Radiation

(ii) Detecting Co-60 spectrum

Co-60 Spectrum; 50 seconds for each points

Co-60 Spectrum; 200 seconds for each points

Source: Monazite; background count rate is 1 count per second.

Monazite count rate vs weight

Graph 3: Graph of count rate, cps, versus weight, g, of monazite.

0 0.1 7536 7631 7554 379 373

0.1 0.2 4862 4847 4903 244 238

0.2 0.3 7045 7071 7053 353 347

Different of source and

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