Equipment:

Vernier ULI Computer Interface
Vernier Student Radiation Monitor

Po-210

Aluminum Sheets

Counts/ 5 s

0

8.58

1

8.36

2

8.1

3

9.05

4

7.76

5

8.76

6

6.88

Co-60

 

Aluminum Sheets

Counts/ 5 s

0

9.78

1

8.5

2

8.9

3

8.42

4

8.93

5

9.14

6

8.95

Sr-90

Aluminum Sheets

Counts/ 5 s

0

12.8

1

8.41

2

9.09

3

9

4

8.77

5

8.46

6

8.36

 

Results from Distance vs Time

 

Distance

Counts/5 s

(cm)

3.5

3292

10

1164

20

368

30

160

40

86

50

57

60

38

70

26

80

20

90

16

An interesting note is to show students that any one particle decaying cannot be predicted as the decay rate comes from the probability over many trials. You can see below that the decay over any five second period is unpredictable. Yet the half-life is fairly accurate due to the high number of deays.

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