Gamma Radiation in the Environment
LEVEL 3 LABORATORY
High Energy Physics
Gamma Radiation in the Environment
Objectives of the Project
- Become familiar with the characteristics of a coaxial solid state Germanium (Ge) detector.
- Investigate the gamma-ray spectra of either soil/sand samples or granite samples.
Apparatus
- Gamma/X-ray radiation detection system.
- High voltage supplies.
- Electronics: Amplifiers, Window discriminators, Coincidence unit, Scaler, Multi-channel Analyser.
- Soil, sand, rock or mineral samples
Experimental Procedure
- Measure the efficiency of the detector as a function of gamma-ray energy at the recommended operating voltage of the detector.
- Measure the resolution of the detector as a function of gamma-ray energy at the recommended operating voltage of the detector.
- Using a gamma energy of 0.662 MeV, determine the efficiency and resolution of the detector for various applied voltages up to the recommended operating voltage.
- Study the spectral energy distributions of several radioactive sources, e.g. Na22, Cs137, Co60.
- Measure the gamma-ray background with the detector inside and outside the lead shielding. Identify any lines in the background spectrum.
- Collect sand and/or soil samples and determine their gamma ray spectra or investigate the gamma ray emissions from a variety of rock and/or mineral samples.
Safety and Precautions
The sources for this project emit gamma radiation and tweezers must be used to hold these sources.
References
- Knoll, G.F.: “Radiation Detection and Measurement”,
- Lilley, J.: “Nuclear Physics. Principles and Applications”,
- Useful statistics
External links
- NIST Physics Laboratory Holdings by Element Useful listing of spectral and nuclear data organised in a periodic table.
- Table of nuclides from the Nuclear Data Evaluation Lab. Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute.