Enother interesting information: specially for you.
Discussion
- What do you think about this? see, .
- so if you have a photo-voltaic (made of cadmium) that's able to get energized from this radiation would you be able to power a light or electric moater for... a while?
- How much do the spectrometers cost. Looks really expensive equipment. But cool nonetheless.
- Love your videos. You've rekindled my fascination with radioactivity enough that I dropped the coin for an Inspector USB. Also went to a local antique store and got an old red Fiesta plate (~38K cpm!) and a piece of depression glass (~70 cpm background adjusted). Have some uranium ore on order as well.54:19 had me nearly in tears when your table collapsed. Your reaction was priceless!
- Yeah, I'd be careful with that lead.
- Remember the three methods: 1. Compare to known spectra! 2. Compare to lists of common energies! 3. If all else fails, use an exhaustive look-up in large lists of energies... Auto Isotope ID software is VERY OFTEN WRONG and should not be trusted until you have the skill to "sanity check" the results.
- I would never remove the Am241 button from a detector. It's a good way to contaminate your house. The Am241 emits mostly alpha particles which even a piece of paper can block. Against lead, the alpha's will actually create x-rays... so storage in plastic is a good idea. Smoke detectors do create x-rays and gamma rays... but that is better than death by fire. Here is a video I did on Am241: watch?v=rBKCLCC2O-Q
- Hey Tom Question I got a some Americium from a well you know fire detector and I tested it and it's off the grid I'm getting 38.44mcSV/h every time and 241CPM I have 2 other from the same detectors and they only show .79 to 1.2mcSV! I installed the new detector and my counters went crazy. I put the peace into a led jar and I got a normal background noise. Not sure what to think about this? Can you advise?
- Some Quick Tips!!! 1. You cannot ID all of the tiny peaks 2. Not all peaks are true "photo peaks". Some are the result of detector interactions. 3. Never trust the 511 keV peak... many things can form it. 4. A tiny peak at 661.66 keV does not always mean Cs137... 5. You cannot calibrate too often 6. Don't run your tests too long... they experience thermal drift and become "fuzzy". 7. When you are starting out... get a second opinion