Re: Particle & Nuclear Physics for HS Teachers

[Ludwik Kowalski <kowalskiL@MAIL.MONTCLAIR.EDU>]

1) I also recommend the Vernier counter and its software.

"Frohne, Vickie" wrote:

> ... For high school student use, you can get new geiger counters for around
> $200 from Vernier. http://www.vernier.com They can be used either with the
> Vernier computer interfaces & Logger Pro software, or as stand-alone
> counters.  Vernier also has a book of experiments to go with their counters.

2) Another thing you would appreciate is a source whose half-life
is not too long. We have a Pu-Be neutron source and I can easily
make such sources. Ask around, perhaps they have one too.
Another approach is to purchase a kit in which a long T material
is in equilibrium a short T material. The short T material is soluble
and can be "milked out" for experiments. The third alternative is
to concentrate radioactivity from air. Several years ago Walkiewicz
described a very effective way of doing this; it was in The Physics
Teacher. He used an ordinary charged balloon. A good project
for future teachers.

A wet tissue collects enough radioactivity (several times the GM
background) from a dusty TV (or computer screen) to observe
the decay for many hours. If I recall correctly, it was a mixture
of two components: T~11 hrs and T~1 hr. This is because the
screen is charged and radioactive ions are attracted to it.

3) I used to take students to a field trip to a local Veterans
Hospital which had a good nuclear medicine department.
Look around for something of that kind.
Ludwik Kowalski