this post was submitted on 19 Nov 2023
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Radiation

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I purchased a pocket-gamma spectrometer last week (Radiacode 102) and brought it with me to a local flea market to find some radioactive antiques! I also found a radioactive gimbaled compass in a box, but did not buy that one.

Here is the processed Gamma spectrum measured with the Radiacode:

Photo with lights on:

Radiacode placed against it:

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Can you tell which radioactive elements are in it from the spectrum?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (1 children)

Yes, the gamma emission peaks correspond to specific transitions of excited nuclear states or to processes such as the annihilation of an electron and a positron.

The app has a built-in database of common decay chains, so I can click on a peak and lines are drawn at the positions that correspond to the radioactive chain. In this spectrum one can see primarily the lines from the decay of radium-226 and its products lead-214 and bismuth-214

Here is a labeled spectrum I found at https://www.gammaspectacular.com/blue/ra226-spectrum :

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago