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Re: [Phys-l] Alpha decay intensity against distance



On 09/19/09 06:22, Savinainen Antti wrote:

BTW, what radioactive source could be used for this experiment as
there usually are daughter nuclei present emitting gamma and/or
beta radiation?


Off the cuff, my first idea would be to use Americium 241.
There's a reason they use it in smoke detectors.
It has a half-life of 432 years,
http://atom.kaeri.re.kr/ton/
so unless it has been sitting around for a rather long
time, you don't need to worry too much about daughters.
Also the daughter has a half-life of a couple million
years, so it wouldn't contribute much to the rate even
if some of it were present.