Absorption of Gamma Rays

Jake Oxley
Objective
The objective of the experiment was to study how gamma rays are absorbed in lead,
aluminum, and water. Specifically, it is to determine the half-value layer (HVL) and the mass
absorption coefficient of each medium, and to compare it with the theoretical calculation.
Background
The relationship between gamma ray intensity before and after an absorber, absorption
coefficient, and distance traveled is defined with the equation

I t=I 0 e−μd

The absorption coefficient μ is a constant of the material used as an absorber under normal
conditions. It is also used to define the absorption length
1
l=
μ
The absorption length is defined as the length of absorber necessary so the gamma ray intensity
drops to 1/e of the initial intensity.
By rearranging the first equation, we can write
It
ln ()
I0
=−μd

If the ratio of intensity before and after an absorber is ½, then

ln ( 12 )=−μ d HVL

0.693
d HVL=
μ
Where dHVL is the thickness that cuts incoming intensity in half.
The mass absorption coefficient is obtained with the simple equation
μ
μ' =
ρ
Where ρ is the mass density of the media.
Procedure
Using a Cs-137 gamma ray source, the same NaI(Tl) detector and multichannel analyzer
as in experiments 3 and 4 is used. First, the detector runs for 60 seconds with no absorbent, and
the number of counts is recorded. Then, slabs of absorbent are placed between the detector and
the sample. For aluminum and lead, the slabs are measured with a caliper. For water, a
meterstick was used. Both were measured in cm.
Data & Analysis
Aluminum:

According to the data, μ = 0.0171cm-1 and μ’ = 0.00633cm2/g, and dHVL= 40.5cm

Lead:

Here we have μ = 0.0901cm-1, μ’ = 0.00795cm2/g, and dHVL= 7.69cm

 Water:

According to this data, μ = 0.0475cm-1,μ’ = 0.0476cm2/g, and dHVL=14.6cm.

Conclusion
While the linear relationship between ln(N/N0) and thickness was confirmed, the values
calculated experimentally seem strange, specifically that water absorbs gamma rays more
effectively than aluminum.
Appendix
ALUMINUM
thickness LN(N/N0) N/N0 N
0 0 1 21184
0.81 -0.0373 0.9634 20409
1.62 -0.047 0.9541 20211
3.27 -0.0738 0.9288 19676
4.98 -0.0974 0.9072 19218
6.68 -0.1366 0.8723 18479
8.32 -0.1683 0.8451 17903
24.49 -0.4191 0.6577 13932
40.57 -0.7138 0.4898 10376
 LEAD
thickness LN(N/N0) N/N0 N
0 0 1 22354
2 -0.191 0.8261 18411
4.6 -0.4915 0.6117 13675
6.4 -0.6549 0.5195 11612
7.5 -0.771 0.4626 10340
8.5 -0.8717 0.4182 9349
9.3 -0.9745 0.3774 8436
11 -1.0557 0.3479 7778
14.4 -1.2371 0.2902 6488

WATER
thickness LN(N/N0) N/N0 N
0 0 1 7600
5.8 -0.2148 0.8067 6131
10.5 -0.5093 0.6009 4567
14.7 -0.6871 0.503 3823
19.6 -0.9074 0.4036 3067