Running Head: RECYCLING AGAINST RADIATION 1

Recycling Against Radiation

George French and Zane Vandivere

2/21/19

Dr. Psaker
Recycling Against Radiation 2

Goals

We only need to finalize our project. This will include editing our final paper and poster,

then submitting all our material. We have already written our first draft of everything, so the

revising will just be small changes for readability, length, or whatever else we think needs to

change.
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Accomplishments

We successfully completed our data collection on February 18th at the dental facility.

The experiment went very smoothly and took just under half an hour to complete. We were able

to document the entire process with photos and videos. In general, we consider the experiment to

be a success.

We were also able to complete the majority of our data analysis. We successfully

performed the Shapiro-Wilk’s Test, Levene’s Test, and the Independent T-Test, all of which

came to the same conclusion: that our recycled radiation shields performed much better than the

non-recycled radiation shields.

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Figure 1. This figure shows us setting up the third of our five trials with the recycled plastic shields.
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Figure 2. This figure shows the setup for the second trial that we took. From left to right one can see the

X-ray machine, the non-recycled radiation shields, and the geiger counter.
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Figure 3. This figure shows the safety equipment that the supervising dentist supplied us with: lead

aprons.
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Figure 4. This figure shows us initially setting up the geiger counter and calibrating it for the control trial.
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Materials and Methods

Materials​:

- Pure (non-recycled) HDPE sheets

- Recycled HDPE sheets

- X-ray machine

- Geiger counter

- Sanding tools

Procedure​:

Testing plastic sheets

1. The first measurement taken must be the control. This should be done by simply

measuring the output radiation of the X-ray machine with no barriers. All

measurements should be taken for a duration of about 10 seconds.

2. After measuring and recording the control, one 1/2” HDPE sheet should be placed

in a position where it visibly would be hit by all X-rays travelling to the geiger

counter. Record the geiger counter readings with radiation exposure.

3. Repeat step 2 four more times, adding another 1/2” HDPE sheet directly in front

of the original sheet for each trial. For every trial, make sure that the position of

the HDPE stack does not move.

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Data and Results

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10
References

Independent t-test for two samples. (n.d.). Retrieved February 6, 2019, from

https://statistics.laerd.com/statistical-guides/independent-t-test-statistical-guide.php​.

LaMarco, N. (2018, August 24). How to Normalize in Excel. Retrieved February 6, 2019, from

https://smallbusiness.chron.com/normalize-excel-36009.html​.

Zaiontz, C. (n.d.). Shapiro-Wilk Original Test. Retrieved February 6, 2019, from

http://www.real-statistics.com/tests-normality-and-symmetry/statistical-tests-normality-s

ymmetry/shapiro-wilk-test/​.

Zaiontz, C. (n.d.). Levene's Test. Retrieved February 6, 2019, from

http://www.real-statistics.com/one-way-analysis-of-variance-anova/homogeneity-varianc

es/levenes-test/​.

Zaiontz, C. (n.d.). Welch's ANOVA Test. Retrieved February 6, 2019, from

https://www.real-statistics.com/one-way-analysis-of-variance-anova/welchs-procedure/​.