Combined ScienceCode 5129
Detection of radioactivity
What this topic asks you to be able to do
- Describe how alpha particles (α-particles) are detected with a cloud chamber or a spark counter, and how beta particles (β-particles) and gamma radiation (γ-radiation) are detected with a Geiger-Müller (GM) tube and counter; here β-particles means β−
- Use count rates, with units of either counts / s or counts /minute
- Understand the meaning of background radiation