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Re: lower division radioactivity & ECG labs, anyone?



A year or two ago, someone wrote up in the Physics Teacher a nice little
activity using salt substitute (KCl) for a source. This is beneficial,
especially for non-science (and pre-med I guess) students. This gives
students an introduction to radiation exposure. We eat radioactive stuff
every time we eat a banana. Is this harmful to us?? These are good
questions that students should be exposed to. If you really want to go
deep into the exposure, talk about x-rays (medical), nuclear plants
(general public interest/concern), etc. You can still do the shielding
and the source-distance experiments. This makes the experiments have real
world value.

Sam Sampere
Syracuse University


On Mon, 29 Dec 1997, Daniel L. MacIsaac wrote:

Hello all;

I'd like to run two new labs this semester, or at least experiment with
getting them in place. One will be a lab on radioactivity, the other
on ECG phenomenon -- part of a refocusing of our lab course -- and I was
wondering what sucessful experiences people had with these kind of labs
for mainly pre-med/health science people in an algebra-based physics
course (E&M; Optics and some modern physics).

I think the dice activity (throwing a few hundred dice a few times
and removing a chosen number as decayed) looks good and maybe a RADON
collection/analysis. I have no means of activating samples (that'd really
crank some individuals over the edge hereabouts :^). What are
others doing that is worthwhile? Shielding??

A second experiment I'm thinking of working up is an ECG experiment. We'd
get the Vernier probeware, and then calculate field intensities based on
the heartbeat plots. Maybe do an examination of the basics of the heartbeat
as well. Can elementary ECG analysis tutorials that include numerical
calculations be found somewheres in the literature?

These are both really vague because I'm whistling in the dark -- will
someone with experience or proper references steer me in a direction where I
can refine my scope for these labs or relate personal experiences that were/
are meaningful to you on these topics?

Dan the ever-demanding

Dan MacIsaac, Assistant Professor of Physics and Astronomy, Northern AZ Univ
danmac@nau.edu http://www.phy.nau.edu/~danmac/homepage.html