Observe the decay of airborne radionuclides with a Geiger counter and computer. (OK, it's not new since we've been doing the experiment for 20 years...we just neglected adding it to our list.)
Filtering dust particles from the air is a...
The very first determination of a half-life for a radioactive decay was made by Rutherford. 1 In a study of the properties of thorium emanation, he found that the intensity of the radiations fell off with time in a geometric progression...
This block of uranium is of great historical significance -- it is a remnant of the WWII German Atomic Bomb Project. It was brought to Harvard by Prof. Edwin C. Kemble, Physics Dept. Chairman and also Deputy Science Director of the ALSOS...
One of the more important discoveries in modern physics is the production of isotopes (both radioactive and stable) by the capture of neutrons. 1 In this experiment the bombardment of silver by thermalized neutrons produces short lived...
Radiations originating from atomic and nuclear processes are classified into four types:
charged particulate radiation consisting of
1. heavy charged particles (α)
2. fast electrons (β)
uncharged radiation consisting of
3. electromagnetic...
Aluminum/Uranium and SF6/Air/Helium density comparisons.
The concept of mass per unit volume, aka density, is shown by having several different substances on hand for comparison. In solid materials, we have equal size chunks1 of aluminum (2...
Gamma ray spectroscopy is used to detect the minute amount of radioactive potassium-40 present in the human body. Using a NaI(Tl) scintillation detector in conjunction with a multichannel pulse-height analyzer (PHA), 1.46 MeV gammas...
How could the fluorescence of the glass in a Crooke's tube generate x-rays? This was the question Henri Becquerel addressed in 1896. His experiments with fluorescence in uranium salts and subsequent discovery of radioactivity are recreated in...
Gamma rays are electromagnetic radiations which we detect as quanta of energy or photons. When the radioactive source is confined so that it acts as a point source, the diminution in the number of photons incident on a given area is such...
β-rays emanating from a radioactive isotope are deflected from their straight line paths by a magnetic field.
90Sr/90Y, a "pure" beta-minus source, emits a continuous spectrum of fast electrons up to a maximum energy of 0.546/2...
