How+Electroplating+Affects+Radiation+Shielding

Keywords: electroplating, Geiger counter, radiation.
 * HOW ELECTROPLATING METALS AFFECTS RADIATION SHIELDING. Jonny Socha, Andrew Greenstein.** The purpose of this lab was to observe how electroplating copper with zinc, iron and lead affected the number of particles of radiation that were deflected by the copper. This lab utilized electroplating and a Geiger counter. Copper deflected 145 particles/second/gram, zinc plated on copper deflected 145, iron deflected 99.1 p/s/g, and lead deflected 136 p/s/g. Zinc alone deflected 1277 p/s/g, iron deflected 5727 p/s/g, and lead deflected 5756 p/s/g. In conclusion, zinc plated on copper, and copper alone deflected the most p/s/g, lead plated on copper deflected less and iron plated on copper deflected the least. However, in a non-corrosive electroplating system that would preserve the original mass of the copper and evenly plate the metals, lead would presumably block the most particles, followed by iron and zinc.

Apparatus Summary Table Average particles/second/gram of gamma radiation deflected by plated metals on copper Metal || Particles/second/gram with copper || Particles/second/gram alone || Copper || 4.98 p/s/g || || Zinc || 5.30 p/s/g || 25.0 p/s/g || Lead || 1.30 p/s/g || 62.0 p/s/g || Iron || 1.57 p/s/g || 90.9 p/s/g ||

Average particles/second/gram of beta radiation deflected by plated metals on copper Metal || Particles/second/gram with copper || Particles/second/gram alone || Copper || 145 p/s/g || || Zinc || 145 p/s/g || 1277 p/s/g || Iron || 99.1 p/s/g || 5727p/s/g || Lead || 136 p/s/g || 5756 p/s/g ||

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