Name
Date
Factors that affect detection of radiation: Shielding
In this investigation, you will be working with the digital radiation
monitor you have used in previous experiments. You be
investigating the impact of the shielding materials between the
source of ionizing radiation and the monitor.
Equipment:




Radiation monitor
 OR  disc source
wooden source holder
meter stick
Safety reminder:
The thin mica window and wire grid is on the front of the monitor
Vernier Digital Radiation Monitor.
 DO NOT TOUCH OR DAMAGE THE MICA WINDOW
Image Source: Digital Radiation
Monitor extended manual.
AND GRID IN ANY WAY.
 DO NOT LET ANY SUBSTANCES OR OBJECTS YOU ARE MEASURING TOUCH
THE MICA WINDOW AND GRID
Remember from your safety discussions that the sources provided by your teacher are safe, but
you should still follow ALARA rules to minimize your exposure to even these low levels of
radiation.
Make certain you return the source to your instructor at the end of the activity.
Procedure:
1. Obtain a monitor. Use your monitor to determine the background radiation count rate (in
Counts per Minute, CPM). Remember, if you have any sources of radiation nearby, place the
source face down on the work surface far from the monitor when doing this.
trial
CPM
Minimum CPM
Maximum CPM
Average CPM
2. Record what source(s) you have been given (radioactive isotope and type of radiation being
produced), and the shielding material you have selected.
3. Place the source in the wooden holder. (You may need to use a
bit of transparent tape across the plastic edge of the disk to keep it
from slipping out.) Then place the monitor next to the meter stick
and the source in front of the monitor and next to the meter stick
(see Figure). How should you orient the source relative to the
Experimental Setup.
monitor’s surface?
4. Before beginning the experiment, determine the spacing between the monitor and the source
and how you plan to position the shielding materials. Remember, the monitor and source
locations cannot change. Explore what distance between the source and monitor will work
for your thickest shielding so that you get reasonable count rates. Reasonable count rate
means that with your thickest shielding the count rate should be at least twice background.
You will need to collect data for 8 to 10 different shielding thicknesses. Once you have found
a setup for the maximum thickness, record the specific thicknesses in a data table below.
5. Make a graph of the data by plotting thickness on the horizontal axis and activity (Corrected
CPM) on the vertical axis. Label your axes. You will need to pick the best scale for both
axes so the data fits nicely on the graph. Does the graph resemble any mathematical function
you know of, for example a straight line (linear), parabolic, exponential or other?
6. How can you determine if there is a specific mathematical relationship between the counts
detected and the separation? The type of curve shown is likely to be due to either an
exponential type relationship ( C  C0 e r / r0 ), where C0 and r0 are both constants), or by a
power-law relationship ( C  C0 /r p ), where C0 and p are both constants). Test if the
exponential relationship is appropriate. Create a semi-log graph (double-click on the vertical
axis, select the scale tab, select “logarithmic scale” and then close the dialog box). If the

 on a line. You can then determine the
exponential scale is appropriate, the data 
should lie

 the constants C0 and r0 .
appropriate trend-line in Excel anddetermine


7. If the relationship was not linear on the semi-log graph, then a power law may be
appropriate. Test this by making a log-log graph. Convert the horizontal axis to a logarithmic
scale (double-click on the horizontal axis and repeat what you did in the previous step). If the
data now appear to be on a line, your data follows a power law relationship and you can now
determine the appropriate trend-line in Excel to find the power p.