Physics – Radiation Experiments

Expt 1 : Cloud Chamber : See tracks of alpha particles

Expt 2 : Power of penetration

Alpha, beta and gamma radiations show different penetration power as shown here:

Expt 3 : To determine the Half-life of Protactinium

The decay of Protactinium (from a bottled source) is monitored using a GM tube. Readings may be taken from the counter and corrected for background, allowing a graph of the decay to be plotted and hence the half-life to be measured.