Radioactive minerals as sources of different types of radia-tion

Principle

The uranium which is contained in the columbit sample is the mother substance of the uranium disintegration series. The successive products have differing half-lives and are converted one after the other by alpha and beta processes until finally a stable lead isotope is created. Only a small part
of the radiation emitted during the nuclear transformations can be detected with this experimental set-up. Because of their low penetrating power, only the alpha and beta particles emitted from nuclei on the surface reach the counter tube. The gamma rays which are emitted from some of the
nuclear transformations have a higher penetrating power, but because of the low detection sensitivity of the counter tube for these rays, only about 1% of those of them which penetrate into it trigger a count pulse. The percentages of the various types of radiation determined from the measurements do not therefore correspond to the actual proportions of the alpha and beta transformations in the sample.

Task

To examine the type and intensity of radiation emitted by a radioactive rock sample.

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