Vaasa University of Applied Sciences

Principles of Modern Physis

Laboratory of Physics

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ABSORPTION OF GAMMA RAYS

Gamma rays %&' are emitted by nuclei when they make transitions from one nuclear state to
another. The emission of & rays by transitions of nuclei is similar to the emission of visible
photons or , rays by transitions of atomic electrons. When a nucleus suffers an alpha decay
%.' or a beta decay %/', it is often left in an excited state, and it then eliminates the excitation
energy in the form of a & ray.
Experimental investigations on the absorption of ., / and & rays by various materials have
shown that . rays % 65He nuclei' are the least penetrating; they can be stopped by a thick piece
of paper. The / rays are more penetrating, they can pass through a foil of lead or a plate of
aluminium. The & rays are the most penetrating, they can pass through a thick wall of
concrete.
References: Section 44.5 in Physics for Scientists and Engineers with Modern Physics by
Raymond A. Serway and John W. Jewett, Jr.
1. Introduction
The 55?Ra specimen used in this experiment produces both . and & rays. The . rays are totally
absorbed by air, the material between the source and the Geiger counter, and the plastic
shielding on top of the counter. The intensity of the & rays decreases exponentially as a
function of the width of the matter:
@

AB

A%@'

Fig. 1 The intensity of & rays penetrating the matter.

The mathematical relationship between the intensity of the penetrating & rays and the
thickness of matter can be expressed as follows:
A%@' = AB C DEF ; G.H = 1Im

%1'

Here AB is the intensity of the & radiation before it hits the matter, A%@' is the intensity after the
& rays have penetrated the body with thickness @, and . is the linear absorption coefficient.
The half width of a given material, @J5 , is defined as follows: when the thickness of the
absorbing body is @J5 , half of the incoming & rays pass through it. This means that
J

AL@J5 M = AB , which yields:

5

AB C DEFNO =

AB
2

@J5 =

ln%2'
.

%2'

2. Measurements
Measure the background intensity AB in the following way: measure the number of & rays
detected by the Geiger counter in 6 minutes, and divide this number by the measuring time in
seconds. Take care that the 55?Ra sample does not interfere with the measurement.
Place the Geiger counter to a distance of about 8 cm from the & source, and place the body to
be studied between these. Measure the number of & counts that penetrate through the body in
3 minutes. Change the body to a thicker or thinner one and repeat the measurement. Use at
least five different values of thickness per material, and study at least two materials. You can
use samples of lead, aluminium, concrete, steel or lead glass in the measurements.
When you determine the intensity A%@', remember to subtract the background intensity from
the measured one: A%@' = Ameas AB .

Plot the intensity as a function of thickness for each material you have studied. Fit an
exponential curve onto the data points

If one takes the natural logarithm of Eq. %1', the exponential function turns into a function of a
straight line:
lnLA%@'M = ln%AB ' .@

%3'

This result means that if the values of lnLA%@'M are plotted against the thickness of the body, @,
the measured data should follow a straight line. As can be seen, the negative of the linear
absorption coefficient, ., will then be equal to the slope of the straight line.

For each material you have studied, determine the value of . in this graphical manner, and
use equation %2' in solving for @J5 ; no error calculation is needed.
2

Combination of Eqs %2' and %3' yields:

ln XAL@J5 MY = ln%AB ' .@J5 = ln%AB ' ln%2'
Therefore, one can determine the value of @J5 also from the plot of ln%A' as a function of the
thickness of the body as follows:
ln%A'
ln%AB '

3,5
3

ln%AB ' ln%2'

2,5
2
1,5
1
0,5
0

10

20

30

40

50

@J5

Determine the value of @J5 also in this graphical manner.

60

70

80

90

@/mm