University Of Arizona - PHYS 182Nuclear Radiation

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Goal of Experiment: The purpose of this experiment was to investigate the nature of radioactivity, learn a little about cosmic rays that go through us constantly, as well as learn safety precautions ... when dealing with radioactivity. Introduction: With the help of this lab, people can see how to detect nuclear emissions, investigate diverse kinds of radiation emitted from distinct nuclei, and also learn about characteristics of emissions. Unstable States and Decay- Elements that are considered stable meaning they don’t change are ordinary matter. Some of the heavy nuclei of atoms can sometimes be unstable. When they are unstable they tend to decay with a certain probability but at random times. As they are decaying, they are emitting many different kinds of particles. Nuclear Radiation Effects- Those nuclei that are unstable emit the different kinds of radiation. Originally they were just named alpha α, beta β, gamma γ but after some research it was found that the alpha was helium nuclei, beta were electrons, and gamma were photons. When all these rays crash with atoms they can cause ionization. This is what lets us detect they are present because they are not visible to the human eye. When they ionize this disrupts the molecule and can change its function. This is harmful to living creatures but the good thing is that there are other molecules that are working to changing it back to its original form. The Geiger-Mueller Counter [Show More]

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