Science and modern technology continues to develop and make use of radioactive materials for many purposes including : archeological dating, medical diagnostic tools, food processing and as a nuclear energy source. A critical part of any undergraduate science and/or health related program therefore requires a basic understanding of the principles and applications of radiochemistry. Unfortunately continued pressures from many Federal, State and local regulatory agencies have resulted in the elimination of low level radioactive materials for general educational use in introductory level courses. In order to circumvent this problem this lab exercise will allow for a radiochemical computer simulation that will act as an introduction to a number of concepts that relate to these all important nuclear principles.
As part of this simulated lab exercise you will be instructed in the safe handling of radioactive materials in preparation for actual use of these materials in other upper level courses. You will then be introduced through a series of simulated lab exercises to the methods of detecting nuclear radiation, measurement of background radiation, and investigation of the effect of distance from a radioactive source on the intensity of its gamma radiation. In the final part of this exercise a short life radioactive isotope, Barium-137m, similar to the type used in medical diagnostics will be eluted from a Minigenerator and its half life experimentally determined.