Ionising Radiation Experiment

The law says that no-one under the age of 16 can handle radioactive
substances, so the practical side of the experiment must be carried out
by the teacher.

The Geiger counter (made of the Geiger-Muller tube connected to an

electronic counter) detects ionising radiation. The higher the count, the
more ionising radiation there is.

The aim of the experiment is to find out which material is the best
absorber of ionising radiation.

1. Measuring the Background Radiation Count

Geiger-Muller
tube

to counter

There is always background radiation around. To do the experiment

properly, we need to subtract the background count from all the
measurements.

Count Time in seconds Background count

rate in
Counts per second
13 30 0.4
2. Measuring the penetrating effect of ionising
place
shield
Geiger-Muller here source
tube

to counter

radiation

Correc
Count ted
Type of
Source Shield Count Time rate in count
radiation
cps* rate in
cps*
Air 241 10 24.1 23.7
Alpha Paper 127 10 12.7 12.3
Americiu
m-241 α Thin 71 10 7.1 6.7
Aluminium
(and some γ)
Thick lead 6 10 0.6 0.2
Air 4075 5 815.0 814.6
Strontiu Beta Paper 2082 5 416.4 416.0
m-90
Thin 157 5 31.4 31.0
β Aluminium
Thick lead 2 5 0.4 0.0
Air 614 10 61.4 61.0
Gamma Paper 490 10 49.0 48.6
Cobalt-60 Thin 395 10 39.5 39.1
γ Aluminium
Thick lead 208 10 20.8 20.4

* cps = counts per second

1. Why is ionising radiation dangerous?

2. List at least three of the safety precautions taken when handling
radioactive materials.
3. What does this experiment tell you about α radiation?
4. What does this experiment tell you about β radiation?
5. What does this experiment tell you about γ radiation?
6. Which is the least penetrating type of ionising radiation?
7. Which is the most penetrating type of ionising radiation?
8. Why is it necessary to work out a corrected count rate?
9. Write a report about the experiment.