Nuclear Physics with MightyOhm: Evidence of Radiation Scattering

• Calin Galeriu ^[1] ; Geoffrey Esper ^[3] ; Cristina Miron ^[2]
  1. [1] Military Technical Academy

     Military Technical Academy

     Sector 3, Rumanía

     
  2. [2] University of Bucharest

     University of Bucharest

     Sector 3, Rumanía

     
  3. [3] Bay Path Regional Vocational Technical High School , Charlton

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• Localización: The Physics Teacher, ISSN 0031-921X, Vol. 62, Nº. 9, 2024, págs. 731-735
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • Great physicists like Arthur Compton1 were able to design and build new scientific instruments. Many times, this has opened the door to new physics discoveries. Our students, as well, should get more involved with this creative method of doing science. One way of promoting this type of experimental research skill is to teach them how to make measurements using the very popular and affordable Arduino Uno microcontroller board and its compatible sensors. With this physics teaching philosophy in mind, and with the help of a MightyOhm Geiger counter, we have investigated the natural background radiation that is due to cosmic rays, the decay chain of radon gas, and radioactive isotopes in building materials.2 Smartphones and tablet PCs can also be used to measure radioactivity.3,4 Here we present another very accessible and safe nuclear physics experiment, which does not require any commercial radioactive sources or expensive instrumentation. With the help of a MightyOhm Geiger counter, an Arduino Uno board, and some thoriated tungsten welding electrodes, we have revealed evidence of radiation scattering, and we have demonstrated the Poisson distribution of radioactive decay.