Radiation I: Detecting Radiation


Common area

  • General measuring equipment
    • 1-m sticks
    • Rulers
    • Calipers
    • Tape (a couple rolls)
  • Radiation sources
    • Gamma emitters: Cs-137 buttons (7)
    • Beta emitters: Sr-90 buttons (7)
    • Alpha emitters: Am-241 slides (2)
    • Lead shielding (3 blocks)
  • Absorber materials
    • Thin lead blocks (4 sets of 4 blocks)
    • Aluminum cylinders (4 sets of 7 different thicknesses)
    • Iron cylinders (4 sets of 7 different thicknesses)
    • Wood/paper squares (4 sets of mix of wood and paper)
    • Gloves (in assorted sizes) for handling lead
  • Demo items
    • Survey meter
    • GM tube with a broken window (so you can see inside)
    • Smoke detector (so you can see the Am-241 source)
  • Extra equipment
    • GM tube in holder (1 or 2 extras)
    • ST370 Radiation Counter (1 or 2 extras)
    • BNC cable (1 or 2 extras)
    • USB cable (1 or 2 extras)

Individual station

  • Whiteboard
    • assortment of dry erase markers
    • an eraser
  • Detection equipment
    • GM tube in holder (w/ source holder and absorber holder slides)
    • ST370 Radiation Counter
    • BNC cable
    • USB cable

Connect equipment at each station and test with the STX software (with high voltage set to +950 V) using a button source.