RS 800 - Radiometrics Essentials

A gamma ray photon has a discreet energy that is characteristic of its source isotope. By precisely measuring the energy of gamma rays we can determine their source.  Potassium-40, uranium-238 and thorium-232 are of primordial origin and are the only natural radioisotopes suitable for gamma ray spectrometry.  This module describes the sources of gamma radiation and properties of their spectra, discuss several aspects of detectors, [...]

The fundamental unit of matter is the atom, which is composed of a nucleus consisting of protons and neutrons surrounded by a cloud of electrons. This module discusses the basics of radioactivity and how the decay rate can be described by Poisson statistics. All detectable gamma radiation from earth materials come from the natural decay products of only three elements at the surface ground. These [...]