Several common houshold products emit small quantities of ionizing radiation. This site describes an attempt at recording the spectra of several such items using a bunch of outdated instrumentation purchased off ebay. The links below describe the instrumentation used, the method used to obtain the spectra and the results.
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| Instrumentation | Calibration | Results | |
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| Background radiation | Lantern mantles | Fiesta dinnerware | Smoke detector | |
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| Trinitite |
The isotopes labelled in each of the spectra presented here were identified (sometimes even correctly) by comparison with spectra from the following sources:
1. "Gamma-Ray Spectrum Catalogue - Ge and Si Detector Spectra", 4th edition, Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory, September 1988.
2. Heath, R.L., "Scintillation Spectrometry - Gamma-Ray Spectrum Catalogue", IDO-16880, 2nd edition - Vol. 1 (Rev.), February 1997.
3. Couch, Jack G. and Vaughn, Kelly L., "Radioactive Consumer Products in the Classroom", The Physics Teacher, Vol 33, January 1995, p18-22.
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Latest update: September 12, 2004 |