Shielding of Alpha, Beta and Gamma radiation Using Various Materials

Rowan M. Woodford, Keelin A. Savage, and Brittan R. Collins

Abstract:
We are conducting this experiment to find out which material, out of Lead, Cotton, HDPE (High
Density Polyethylene), aluminum, and paper is the most effective at blocking out Alpha, Beta, and
Gamma radiation. The motivation behind this research is to find a material that could protect workers in
uranium mills. To conduct this experiment we used a Geiger counter to measure the counts of radiation
being emitted from our three sources of radiation. We would then place one of our five shields between
the source of radiation and the window of the Geiger counter and see how well it would block out the
radiation being emitted from the source of radiation being used. Our data showed us that all five of our
materials were Fairley effective at blocking out radiation. These results are significant because they will
tell us which of these materials could have safety applications within uranium mills. As well as any
facilities that deal with radioactive materials.

Introduction:
Every day, people are exposed to certain levels
of radiation. Radiation is energy that is released
from a radioactive source. It is released either in
the form of moving subatomic particles or as
electromagnetic waves. At our lab the Geiger
counter that we used picked up 15 counts of
radiation in 50 seconds without any sources of
radiation in the room. This is what is referred to
as background radiation. It is the amount of
radiation that we are exposed to at all times. We
get it from sources in nature all around us. One
example is rocks; there are rocks around us that
naturally emit radiation. Its a safe level, and our
bodies are used to it. But, in uranium mills and
mills that extract other radioactive substances
from the ground, people are exposed to much
more concentrated levels of radiation. In this
lab, looked to see witch of five materials would
most effectively block out various types of
radiation. We used a Geiger counter to measure
witch of the materials would most effectively
block out the different sources of radiation. We
used alpha, beta, and gamma sources of
radiation in our testing to find out how each
interacted with the different shields.

Alpha particles are +2 positively charged helium

nuclei that are emitted when radioactive decay
happens in materials such as uranium-235. Beta
particles are -1 negatively charged particles that
are emitted from substances such as Cobalt-60.
Wen beta decay happens it releases its energy
when a neutron ejects its electro at a very high
speed. This gives materials that emit Beta
particles their ability to destroy living cells.
Gamma particles are very high-energy photons.
The most electromagnetic of the photon
spectrum in fact, they are used in applications
such as the sterilization of medical equipment.
Barium-137 can emit Gamma rays. Gamma rays
often accompany Alpha or Beta Decay. An
example of this is Caesium-137. When
Caesium-137 decays it emits Beta particles
however it decays into Barium-137 which has a
very short half-life. Therefore whenever a single
atom of Caesium-137 decays into Barium-137 a
gamma ray will be released within a very short
period of time. Keeping in mind that Barium137 has a half-life of only a few minutes.

Methods:
In this experiment we used Strontium-90 as our Beta source, Polonium-210 as our Alpha source
and Cobalt- 60 as our Gamma source. For our shields we used Cotton, Lead, Aluminum, High Density
Polyethylene, and paper. To set up our experiment we placed a Geiger counter horizontally on a level
table. Using our Geiger counter and computer software we measure the levels of radiation in counts per
fifty second intervals. We set the sources of radiation so that they were aimed at the window of the Geiger
counter. If we were using a shield we would place it between the window of the Geiger counter and the
source of radiation. We tested each of the three sources of radiation with all 5 types of shielding that we
had. Before we conducted this experiment we calculated how many milirems of radiation we would be
exposed to during our experiment.
Hazards:
In this experiment we were handling radioactive materials. We calculated beforehand how much
radiation in milirems that we would be exposed to. The amount of radiation that we were exposed to was
minimal and not a dangerous amount. To be safe we tried to minimalize the amount of time that we
actually contacted the source. If you increase your distance from the source if even by only a few
centimeters drastically reduces the amount of radiation that you are exposed to.
Results:
Figure 1: Measured data from experiment

With or without
Screen
No Screen
No screen
Screen Aluminum
Screen Cotton
Screen Paper
Screen Lead
Screen HDPE
No screen
Screen Aluminum
Screen Cotton
Screen Paper
Screen Lead
Screen HDPE
No screen
Screen Aluminum
Screen Cotton
Screen Paper
Screen Lead
Screen HDPE

Source

Time in Seconds

No Source
Strontium-90
Strontium-90
Strontium-90
Strontium-90
Strontium-90
Strontium-90
Polomium-210
Polomium-210
Polomium-210
Polomium-210
Polomium-210
Polomium-210
Cobalt-60
Cobalt-60
Cobalt-60
Cobalt-60
Cobalt-60
Cobalt-60

50 Seconds
50 Seconds
50 Seconds
50 Seconds
50 Seconds
50 Seconds
50 Seconds
50 Seconds
50 Seconds
50 Seconds
50 Seconds
50 Seconds
50 Seconds
50 Seconds
50 Seconds
50 Seconds
50 Seconds
50 Seconds
50 Seconds

Radiation Counts per

50 seconds
14 counts
377 counts
137 counts
246 counts
314 counts
25 counts
27 counts
22 counts
20 counts
20 counts
21 counts
20 counts
22 counts
176 counts
176 counts
130 counts
140 counts
122 counts
126 counts

Figure 2: Graph of results

The information in figure 1 is showing the data that my group collected. The type of shielding
used, source of radiation, and counts of radiation measured, are all present in the table. All of the counts
of radiation were measured within a fifty second period of time. The Geiger counter that we used added
all counts of radiation detected within fifty seconds. The same information that is present in figure 1 is
present in figure 2, only it is present in graphical form. One trend that is apparent happens where lead is
present along the X axis. Lead dramatically reduced the counts of radiation that the Geiger counter
detected. We can also see that cotton, paper, and HDPE (High Density Polyethylene) all significantly
lowered the counts of radiation that the Geiger counter detected.
Discussion and Conclusion:
The purpose of this lab was to see witch of five materials would most effectively block out Alpha,
Beta, and Gamma sources of radiation. We expected that Lead would be the most effective shielding
material. We found that for our Beta source, Strontium-90 the lead reduced the measured counts of
radiation from 377 counts without a shield to only 25 counts. For our Gamma source Cobalt-60, the lead
reduced the measured counts from 176 counts with no shield to 122 counts. The lead was also effective in
shielding our Alpha source Polonium-210. It reduced the number of counts from 22 with no shield to 20.
We found Lead to be the most effective of our five types of shields. This matched our initial prediction.

We had other shields that were also very effective against our sources of radiation. One shield that was
surprisingly effective against the three sources of radiation was the paper. The paper reduced our Beta
source from 377 counts with no shield to 314 counts. The paper reduced our gamma source from 176
counts with no shield to 140 counts. It reduced or alpha source from 22 counts with no shield to 21
counts. We found all five of our shields to be quite effective against the three types of radiation.
On area of measurement uncertainty was in the distance between the source of radiation and the
window of the Geiger counter. In each of our experiments we tried to place the source of radiation exactly
three inches away from the window of the Geiger counter. If we were using a shield we would place it
two inches away from the window of the Geiger counter and one inch away from the source of radiation.
We did our best to follow this system exactly but there were times when we were a little bit off. This
would have slightly thrown off our results. One way that we could have improved this process would
have been to use the small pieces of plastic that were intended to hold the sources of radiation. We did not
know that we had these small pieces of plastic until we were finished with our lab. Using these would
have allowed use to place the source of radiation exactly three inches away from the window of the
Geiger counter every single time.