Investigation of the Process of Radioactivity - Essay Example

Investigation of the process of radioactivity. Coins will be used to demonstrate the concept of radioactive decay. Two lab exercises will be carried out to establish the half-life and the rate of decay. The data recorded from each trial will be recorded and used in the analysis of the rate of decay and accumulation hence aiding in the understanding of the process of radioactivity. Introduction Radioactive decay refers to the process when the nucleus of an atomic isotope decays emitting an alpha or beta particle turning it into another kind of atom. Radioactivity has the potential to cause both harm and benefits (Andrew & Stein, 2009). The process can be described as occurring randomly such that one cannot be in a position to identify which nuclei will decay at any given time but using probability, we can state the number of atomic nuclei that will decay in a given time. Stable isotopes normally have a long half-life and unstable ones have a short half-life. Half-life refers to the period of time an atom requires to decay to half its quantity (Claudio, 2009). When an isotope that is radioactive in nature undergoes decay, it results into a new product. The amount of time taken to create the new product can be estimated by comparing the parent and daughter atoms. The half-life of any given element estimates the mean time that is taken for half of the parent atoms to decay into daughters but it does not describe the behavior during this process. The process as stated above is known to be random whereby one atom can take one half-life while another could last several hundred lives. This way, radioactivity can be described using probabilistic mathematical methods (Piccion, 2013). Radioactive decay is a very important tool in radioactive decay in estimating the age of rocks. The aim of this report is to demonstrate the concept of radioactivity in atoms. So for every report there are some objectives to do in it, and the objective of this report is to determine the half life of the coins, investigate the relationship between decay and accumulation of coins, to determine the of coins that will be decayed and to know the averages of number of throws to reach to coins 1 or 0 in the second lab. I have expected two hypothesis for this experiment, my first theory for lab 1 is does the number of coins decayed decrease with the number of trials and the second experiment my hypothesis was 16 coins were tossed 50 times and the results used to test for the hypothesis: does it take half the number of coins two trials to decay? Methods and items: Items: -box -coins Method Lab 1 Starting with 200 coins, I set up a blank data table to record the observations made. Procedure: 1. I placed all the coins in a flat box such that all heads were up. 2. The box was then covered and shaken thoroughly. 3. I then removed all the coins that were tails up and recorded this number in a data table. These represented the atoms that had decayed during one half-life. 4. I calculated the accumulated number of coins that had decayed and recorded this information in the data table. 5. The number of coins remaining in the in the box were also recorded in the data table. 6. The procedure was repeated until all the coins had been removed from the box. Items of lab 2: -Plastic drinking cup -coins Method Lab 2  This lab exercise will focus on a situation where there are 16 coins. The trials was carried out until I had 2 or less coins left in the box. 50 trials were done and the results recorded in a table. Procedure: 1. 16 coins were in cup and thrown and those with tails up were counted and removed on the first throw. These results were recorded in the data table. 2. I continued throwing the coins until two or less coin were left. The number of throws that were required to have just two or less coins left was recorded in the data table. 3. I repeated the procedure 50 times and recorded the observations in a data table. Results and discussion Graph 1: Trial number versus accumulated coins Graph 2: Trial number versus number of coins decayed From the observations made and the results shown on the graph, it can be pointed out that the number of accumulated coins increases with the number of trials done as shown on graph 1. On the other hand, the number of coins decayed decrease with increase in the number of trials until there is none left. This is shown above in graph 2. The rate of accumulation is inversely proportional to the rate of decay. Unlike what is expected, 50% of the coins do not decay each trial. However, the results prove that our hypothesis is correct and the number of coins decayed decrease with the number of trials. Graph 3: number decayed on first throw versus frequency Graph 4: Number of throws to get 2 or less versus frequency In lab 2, it was expected that 8 coins would be decayed in the first trial but this is not the case. For 8 coins to be decayed it took 14 trials and to get full decay, it took 50 trials. This is does not match with the hypothesis that it would take only 8 trials to decay, half the number of coins. The histograms used to represent these results on graph 3 and 4 indicate these findings. After establishing the relationship between decay and accumulation, lab 2 helps to establish the rate of decay and accumulation. The highest peak (frequency) achieved is 14 in the first trial. The histogram forms a perfect smooth curve. The two lab exercises indicate a practical case of radioactive decay whereby you cannot tell the particular atom that will decay but you know that a certain number will decay within a certain period of time. It is important to point out that the work is prone to errors resulting from miscounting of coins, touching the coins and probably shaking by different people who may not do it with equal thoroughness. To minimize these errors, it can be suggested that the box is shaken by the same person and counting done by at least two people separately. Calculations Total number of coins decayed in first throw=136 Total number of coins=50x16=800 Percentage of total coins that decayed Average number of throws required for 2 or less coins to be left. Conclusion In conclusion, I have finished the two experiments that we should do it, the first experiment carried 200 coins with11 trial, the second carried 16 with 50 trials, the two hypothesis was not 100% with what it shown in the graphs, I think exactness one of the things that may spoil my report. From this experiment we should know what we were doing wrong to avoid it next times, increasing number of coins and trials might develop the experiment. References Andrew & Stein, Radioactivity Science foundations, Infobase Publishing, 2009. Claudio Tuniz, Radioactivity: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford University Press, 2012. Robert Piccioni, Quantum Mechanics 4, Oxford University Press, 2013. Appendix Trail number Number decayed Accumulated Number left 0 0 0 200 1 94 94 106 2 50 144 56 3 21 165 35 4 10 175 25 5 15 190 10 6 4 194 6 7 3 197 3 8 0 197 3 9 1 198 2 10 1 199 1 11 1 200 0 Table 1: Results for Lab 1 Trial number Number decayed first throw Number of throws to get 2 or less 1 9 3 2 7 4 3 8 3 4 10 3 5 9 3 6 9 3 7 10 3 8 7 4 9 7 4 10 8 3 11 8 3 12 8 3 13 7 3 14 9 2 15 8 4 16 10 3 17 11 2 18 8 2 19 7 3 20 11 3 21 6 3 22 10 3 23 5 3 24 7 4 25 8 4 26 9 3 27 7 3 28 10 4 29 8 3 30 8 3 31 8 3 32 8 3 33 11 3 34 11 2 35 9 3 36 7 3 37 13 2 38 5 4 39 5 4 40 9 2 41 8 2 42 8 2 43 11 3 44 7 2 45 9 2 46 8 3 47 7 3 48 6 3 49 11 2 50 9 4 419 149 52.375 2.98 Table 2: Results for Lab 2 Number decayed first throw Frequency 0 0 1 0 2 0 3 0 4 0 5 3 6 2 7 10 8 14 9 9 10 5 11 6 12 0 13 1 14 0 15 0 16 0 50 Table 3: Results for Number decayed first throw versus Frequency Number of throws to get 2 or less Frequency 1 0 2 11 3 29 4 10 50 Table 4: Number of throws to get 2 or less versus Frequency Read More