I enjoy watching the videos of Chris Boden with his brand of bringing Science Education in his own unique style. In one of the videos, he talks about radiation and one of the devices he mentions is a Radiacode. So I went to their website and ordered me one for my birthday.
The shipping was very fast and I had it in a matter of days. I really didn’t know what I was getting myself into, but it sounded fun and is another aspect of the Universe that I wanted to understand.
First Use
My first test was to see if it works, so I took the smoke detector off the wall and started to see if I could detect radiation.
There are two types of smoke detectors, one is Ionization and the other Photoelectric. The Ionization type of smoke detector uses Americium-241 as an alpha emitter in a charged chamber. Alpha Particles carry a positive charge. When the alpha particles are emitted from the source and contact the negatively charged wall of the chamber, it forms a complete circuit. When smoke particles enter the chamber, it disrupts this circuit which causes the smoke alarm to go off.
The Spectra clearly shows two large peaks that indicate Am-241. So it is working well.
I had a few pieces of Trinitite to see if there is any radiation leakage. There wasn’t much detectible, so I decided to purchase some everyday stuff that are known to be slightly radioactive.
Obtaining some Radiation Sources from Amazon
After doing some research, I purchased some stuff on Amazon. A set of Thoriated TIG Welding Rods and some Czech Uranium Glass beads. When I got them, I immediately wanted to try out the rods.
The spectrum clearly shows the signature of gamma rays from the decay of Th-232.
The glass beads also indicated the presence of decay from Uranium:
I have already ordered some minerals from Ebay that are radioactive to get some more radiation sources: A Blue Apatite Crystal and some Fergusonite-(Y) Crystals.
Isn’t this dangerous?
We are bombarded by radiation every day as we go about our lives from alpha and beta particles and Gamma-Rays. Most of this is natural. There are sources that are man-made like Americium. Thorium and Uranium are naturally radioactive. Granite contains radiation sources, even bananas! The EPA sets the maximum exposure limit to the general public at 1 mSv a year. Background radiation in my home is 0.05 to 0.06 μSv an hour on average. 1 mSv is 1000 μSv. I divided 8760 by 1000 which yielded 8.76 µSv/h. When I placed the RC110 on top of the smoke detector, it was raised to .12 μSv/h. So the radiation exposure is well within safe levels. This is why we can buy some of this stuff from Amazon!
Now, this does not mean you should take the Americium and swallow it, nor should you actually take it out of the smoke detector (from what I understand, that is illegal in some jurisdictions). You run the risk of contamination where small particles can be released where you can breath it in. Just like anything that is hazardous, like household chemicals, handling should be done with care.
Mapping Your Environment
One of the coolest things about the Radiacode devices is the ability to trace yourself on a map with the detector. With the free mobile app, you can see what the radiation levels are in your environment. I plan to do this for the town where I reside.
Which one should I get?
Radiacode has 4 different models available. I break down the differences:
RC102 – Good starter one. Many have this one to use in the field and a better one to use when they want to get good spectra for a source. It has the same sensitivity as the RC103.
RC103 – More resolution for Spectra but just as sensitive to the RC102.
RC110 – The most sensitive of all of the Radiacodes. This means you will get more readings for spectra. The resolution for Spectra is the same as the 103. Think of this as a more sensitive version of the 103.
RC103G – This model provides the most resolution and accuracy for spectra and is slightly more sensitive than the 102 and 103.
I decided on the RC110 as it has the most sensitivity and the accuracy is just as good as the RC103. I may get a 103G someday for even more accuracy on the spectra, but to be honest, I really don’t think it is necessary for what I am doing. What is likely is that I will get the 102 for my everyday-carry-around device and use the RC110 when I want to zero in on a spectra.
Collecting Spectrum
At a recent Columbus Astronomical Society meeting, one of the members had a watch on from the 1950s. I put the RC110 on top of it and sure enough, it had Radium in it. So I was able to capture my first Radium spectra. It is fun to validate isotopes whether known or unknown.
But Why?
As a Science-minded layman, I am intensely curious about the Universe. Radiation is one of those aspects about Nature I would like to understand more. I find it interesting that some places have higher radiation levels and we don’t know about it. All of the places where I discovered these levels are well within the safe limits. We are surrounded by it, we just don’t think about it. Plus, it’s fun!