New geiger counter and radioactive collection Part2

[MucusFelidae]

Your probes must never contact any radioactive material, with the time they will raise their ZERO level.

[XTwina]

@MucusFelidae only, if the probes are not solid enough and there is rub off. I have no raise of zero so far. It might be relevant when using high precision measuring equipment, but the bit that might get stuck is to small to be measured by normal micas.

[MucusFelidae]

Alpha radiation can penetrate your skin, depending on the particle energy.

It is a false myth which gives the illusion of skin protecting you.

Americium alphas have less energy than Thorium alphas.

You have the working equipment now learn how to use it properly.

Find out how to identify an isotope.

[MucusFelidae]

To absorb all betas you need about 3 mm of aluminium.

At least 2 mm are recommended.

Alternatively use acryl glas of 4 mm.

[AllAroundBang]

Where did you buy the lead containers?

[XTwina]

@AllAroundBang They are not bought ;)

Simply made a plaster mould and poured in molten lead from used bullets. After that you will not have a good surface (like the unfinished one in the video) so i put it into the lathe and finished it, now it looks much better.

XT

[30secondBO]

how did u get uranium

[XTwina]

@30secondBO Its uranium ore, thorbenite to be exact, its from some old school minaeral sample. This particular bit is relatively strong in terms of uranium concentration, not as extreme as pitchblende but pretty nice.

[martiniostramoga]

Wo haste denn das americium herbekommen? Cooles vid

[XTwina]

@martiniostramoga Aus Rauchmeldern, die ionisierenden mit Am gabs damals auf ebay uk, musst einfach mal etwas suchen, ab und an gibts noch was :D

[martiniostramoga]

@XTwina ich such momentan nur auf ebay de und da findet man fast nichts ausser ab und zu uraninit, danke für den tipp

[MucusFelidae]

@martiniostramoga geh auf ebay uk

[nuaberhopp]

puuuh the way you threat the uranium ore and the thorium source is frigthening me ... true the radiation is not that dangerous but if you inhale or swallow ...

either the part where u whiped the table clean ... *brrr* pretty tough man !!!

another thing: al is producing "bremsstrahlung" from betaevents, in fact its natural gamma what you measure, plus the ammount of bremsstrahlung which is added from the beta impacts.

anyhow, nice video to demonstrate different kinds of radiations ... :)

[XTwina]

@nuaberhopp i know, but for my defence, the uranium was spraypainted so nothing could get in touch with my fingers and the thorium mantle is behind a mesh and soaked in superglue, the tiny bit that might still get away went off when i washed my hands afterwards. The potassium nitrate / chloride is so low in activity that you can even eat it or breath in the smoke when burned (fire cracker) i dont think, that can harm me when whiping the table :D cheers

[scuds03]

ur gonna get cancer homie

[XTwina]

@scuds03 not again ... It sounds a lot but the rad level in some areas in nature or in a intercontinental flight are much MUCH higher than what i have here ...

[scuds03]

@XTwina Its a government comspiracy bro

[mdluby10]

It's americium 241 not americium 242. P.S. cool video

[fuuturist]

nice geiger counter! :) can you post schematics? how much current does it draws? mine about 1.5mA, too much :-(

[XTwina]

@fuuturist 1.5mA is not bad man, the counter you see in the video consumes about 14mA @ 3.7V (one lipo cell) and thats enough to last for about 100 hours on the inbuilt battery. You dont have to get much lower, even if its possible.

I dont have a shematic, but its a simple oszillator with two BC547B, an old ccfl inverter transformer and some bird shit around, nothing special, you can find much better stuff at the wb, than mine ; )

[zhogas]

cool

[Aadnesigurd]

not bad :)

[martinunterstrichm3]

@XTwina and possibly much more,

you stated: 90.000 counts per minute... realy a lot of radiation...but its not dangerous to the body, because it can´t penetrate the skin its only alpha radiation... erm, pardon, ALPHA radiation is extremely dangerous to your SKIN ask your theacher again! Also gerade für die HAut ist Alpha Strahlung schädlich, es würde ja schon reichen wenn Du Handschuhe nehmen würdest... Solltest Du gerade wissen bei der Experimentierfreudigkeit.

[XTwina]

@martinunterstrichm3 The counts per minute are not a concrete level of radiation, 90.000 counts with a un sensitive counter tube is a lot, but with this alpha capable tube its not very much. for comparesant, i can measure a simple brick of granite with it and its five times the backround. With a normal normal tube u can be lucky to detect a fraction of this. Also alpha is the most dangerous radiation of all, but only when IN the body or from outside with a lot more than i can get legaly.

[XTwina]

The last point is, the time of iradiation, i touched them only very short and in this time i not even touched the americium it self, only the casing of it so i cant get any bit of it onto my body carryiung it with me. Its more dangerous to touch uranium ore or thorium glow mantles with bare hand and thats what even i stoped doing...

I DONT SAY ITS NOT DANGEROUS !!!

[Bveb]

Really nice demonstration of the different kinds of decay. How did you even got the uranium. I mean REALLY??!!

[XTwina]

@Bveb only uranium mineral, no pure metal ;)

You can buy it, collect it in nature or get it (like me) from a guy who has some ^^

[6534139]

☢

[cptcrkr]

Looking to sell your old geiger counter? I want a cheap one

[ALARAiswise]

Great pancake. I really like it.

[SuperCrazyStorm]

Nice Geiger counter