Scenarios 1 and 2 (Merit) Task 1 a.

Describe how a simulation of radioactive decay using dice could be carried out Radioactive simulation can be carried out using dice by putting the dice in a beaker and shake. One side of the dice should be blackened so the undecayed can be easily detected. Place the dice (up to a 100) in a beaker and shake well. Throw the shaken dice into a tray and pick out the decayed dice (the ones with the black side facing up).

b. Result Un-decayed dice (nuclei) 100 82 72 60 52 43 36 29 20 16 12 9 6 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 0 18 10 12 8 9 7 7 9 4 4 3 3 Number of throws Number decayed

c. What does this teach us about the nature of radioactive decay

When this investigation is carried out, results like those shown in the table and graph above, are obtained. The vertical axis on a graph such as this could be corrected count rate, intensity of gamma radiation, dose equivalent or dose equivalent rate. The thickness of absorber needed to reduce the corrected count rate to half its original value is called the half-value thickness. For the gamma radiation used to produce the results shown above, the half-value thickness of lead is 5 mm.

Equivalent dose The risk of harm to biological tissue from an exposure to ionising radiation depends on three factors:

the absorbed dose, D the type of radiation that is absorbed, for example alpha or beta particles, gamma rays or slow (thermal) neutrons the type of body organs or tissue that is exposed to the radiation

To allow comparisons of the risk of harm due to different ionising radiations, each type of radiation is assigned a radiation weighting factor (WR) as a measure of its biological effect.

The radiation weighting factor for some types of ionising radiation is given in the table. Table about ionising radiation Radiation Radiation weighting factor (WR)

alpha particles20 beta particles 1 gamma rays 1 slow neutrons 3

Equivalent dose (H) measures the biological effects of ionising radiations. It takes account of

the type of radiation the energy carried by the radiation how much tissue absorbs the energy

Equivalent dose is the product of absorbed dose and radiation weighting factor. The equation can be written as H = DWR Equivalent dose is measured in sieverts (Sv). Since the radiation weighting factor has no unit, both the gray and the sievert are equal to one joule per kilogram.