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Testing of Radiation Shielding and Calculationof Half-Lives
By
Wilson Punyalack, Abdolmajid Raeisi, Yi-Hsuan Chiu, Supun Bakiwewa, Chiyoko Yagasaki and Lewis Risk 
Abstract
Radioactivity, scientifically speaking is a relatively new pursuit of science and inthis day and age has proven to be one of the most beneficial discoveries. In thisreport the types radiation that were studied were alpha, beta and gamma which allhave different properties which were tested through shielding and half lifecalculations. It was found that lead was the best form of shielding but only after taking into account the amount of flaws present in the experimental design.
Introduction:
In the past one hundred years, the study of radioactivity has been explored andestablished. This field of study was introduced in the late 19
th
century, and later firmlyestablished by French scientists Marie Curie and Pierre Curie with their experimentson radioactive elements (Hocking, 2005). Radioactivity is at the cutting-edge of modern science for its significance in medical application as well as archaeologicaland environmental importance.The report describes the experiment designed and conducted in order to record theabsorption of different types of radiation by various materials; additionally, the decayof radioactivity was also measured. The results of absorption were compared betweendifferent materials and the half-life of various radioactive sources was calculated formthe data obtained.
Theory:
When an unstable nucleus decays it may give off several forms of radiation, threewell known forms of radiation that were measured in the first experiment were Alpha,Beta and Gamma radiation. Each of these forms of radiation, or ionising radiation, hasdifferent properties which affects how they interact with matter. Alpha radiationconsists of two protons and two neutrons and being a relatively large particle lacks the penetrating power of other forms of radiation as it is quickly ionises. Beta radiation isa single electron and due to its small size and high speed can penetrate more thicker shields. Gamma radiation is a ray rather than a particle and is usually given off withalpha and beta radiation. It is less ionising than the other forms of radiation as it doesnot have a charge and as such is extremely penetrating. The second experimentinvolved calculating the half life radioactive isotopes. This involves measuring theamount of radiation over a period of time and the half life is calculated when theradiation emitted is half that of the initial measurement. The general formula for half life is:Where N
t
Is the final amount, N
0
is the initial amount, t is the time passed and t
1/2
isthe half life.
 
Materials and methods:
Materials:
Part I: radiation shielding
Geiger-MÜller counter w/ GM TUBE (detector)
Stop watch
Latex gloves
Radioactive sources:
•
Alpha 37 kBq Am-241 (1987)
•
Beta 37 kBq Sr/Y-90 1μCi (1985)
•
Gamma 370 kBq Cs-137 10μCi (1985)
Sheets of Paper 
Thin aluminium blocks
Thick aluminium blocks
Lead Blocks
Plant material (leaf, bark)
Meat material (beef patty)
Wood blocksPart II: Radiation half-life
Geiger-MÜller counter w/ GM Tube (detector)
Stop watch
Microsoft excel
Radioactive sources:
•
Alpha 37 kBq Am-241 (1987)
•
Beta 37 kBq Sr/Y-90 1μCi (1985)
•
Gamma 370 kBq Cs-137 10μCi (1985)
•
Barium -137m minigenerator 
Methods:
Both parts of the experiment were performed under standard laboratory conditions atroom temperature.
Part I: Radiation Shielding
Apparatus consisting of a Geiger counter and GM tube (gaseous ionisation detector)were appropriately organised and set up. The GM tube was situated 15cm fromradioactive source propped by a support bracket ensuring stability. Backgroundradiation checks were performed 5 times; the average utilised as appoint of reference.Background radiation was accounted for simply by switching on the Geiger counter and observing the produced numerical value after 1 min. Standardised sources of 
 
alpha, beta and gamma radiation were then positioned in the support bracket(handling requires use of latex gloves). The radioactivity of each source was recordedover a period of 1min through four trials. These standards are used as a source of comparison.Following standard measurements, the different shielding materials selected wereindividually placed in between the radioactive source and the GM tube. Each of theshielding materials was subjected to all three types 1 min of radiation over a number of 4 trials each. The amount of radiation able to penetrate the shielding material wasdetermined by the Geiger counter. These results were then entered into MicrosoftExcel of detailed analysis.This proved to be scientifically unreliable as there were two variables being changed.As such modifications were made to the experiment whereby there would be only onevariable being changed. That is, rather than using different shields of differentthicknesses the experiment was carried out using shields of the same thickness andafter each measurement the shields were made thicker until a the value for radiationremained relatively consistent.
Part II: Calculating Half Life
Similarly, apparatus consisting of a Geiger counter and GM tube (gaseous ionisationdetector) were appropriately organised and set up. Background radiation checks were performed 3 times over a time period of 5 min each.To determine the half life of each radioactive substance (alpha, beta and gamma),each sample was securely positioned into the support bracket over 5 min. Radiationlevels were noted in 30sec intervals. The radiation emitted over each 30 secondinterval can be calculated simply by means of subtraction.The results were processed in Excel and the appropriate graphs were produced for analysis.
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