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Physics IA
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Penetration of Nuclear Radiation
Syllabus reference
Assessment Criteria
Date delivered out
Date for handing in
Purpose
Investigate the penetrating ability of three common types of nuclear
radiation
Prior knowledge
Equipment
Nuclear Sensor,
Radioactive Sources (alpha, beta, gamma)
Shielding material (lead squares, paper squares, plastic squares)
Procedure
1. Determine the background activity (use at least two minutes).
2. For the alpha source, put one lead square on the top of the source and measure the
activity directly outside the square. Do the same measurement with two, three, four,
and five squares on the top of each other.
3. Repeat the previous experiment with paper and plastic squares.
4. Repeat the three previous experiments for the beta and the gamma sources.
Data Analysis
Make a graph of activity vs number of squares for all combinations of source and shielding
material. If there is good enough data, make a best fit to an exponential decay.
Questions
1. Order the sources in decreasing penetrating ability. Why is there a difference in the
penetrating ability of the three basic radiation types?
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IB Physics
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