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Natural Radioactivity |
Teachers Demonstrations: A safe way to demonstrate natural radiation in a classroom is to use a lead film pouch that is sold in local camera stores. The one's that are sold to carry film through an airport X-ray machine. By leaving your pitchblende sample inside the lead pouch you can actually control which direction the radiation is pointed and keep everyone in the classroom safe. You can use the wand of your Geiger counter to pass over the open end of the pouch and demonstrate the natural radiation of pitchblende. Then, you can simply reseal the pouch and no one is in harm's way. Natural pitchblende is available on eBay from several dealers. Just be careful about how you ship and handle the material. WARNING: This radioactive specimen of pitchblende was purchased on eBay and arrived without any special packaging. While this specimen can be controlled by just a few wraps of aluminum foil, it was not wrapped during shipping. I have purchased some cesium crystals on eBay that require special handling and lead containers. These arrived properly contained and packaged so that no radiation was leaking during shipping. (Which I am sure my mail carrier appreciated) Be very careful about buying radioactive specimens on eBay or anywhere else. Some of these guys either don't know what they are selling, or are not informing people of the potential risks and special handling requirements of their specimens. BE CAREFUL. |
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