International Journal of Research and Innovation in Applied Science (IJRIAS) |Volume VII, Issue X, October 2022|ISSN 2454-6194
Investigation of Attenuation Properties of Liquid Materials by Gamma Absorption-Scattering Method
Muttaka Umar1*, Aminu Saidu2, Junaidu Aliyu3, Anas Shehu4
1,3,4Department of Physics, Sokoto State University, Sokoto, P.M.B 2134, Sokoto, Nigeria
2Department of Physics, Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, P.M.B 2346 Sokoto, Nigeria
*Corresponding author
Abstract: In this work, a system for the characterization of materials using transmission and scattering of gamma rays is described and used to assess the attenuation properties of some liquid materials. The apparatus consists of a 45 mCi point source of 124Am and thin NaI (Tl) detector. Measurements are presented for sucrose solutions with densities ranging from 1 to 1.86 g/cm3. For the absorbance, the solution Z (0.66 g/cm3) with the lowest density has higher absorption with chances to attenuate more than some higher density absorber solution like the sucrose (1.37 g/cm3) while sucrose (1.86 g/cm3) solution with the highest density possessing highest absorption and attenuation capabilities. This however did not fully accord to the conformity with the theory in low-density absorber which will give rise to less attenuation than a high-density absorber since the chances of an interaction between the radiation and the atoms of the absorber are relatively lower. Consequently, the variation of the ratio of scattered and transmitted intensity against the density of the solutions display some arbitrary dependence with energy of the photons interacting with the density of the absorber solution with some little deviation to the exact ideal scattering and transmission case. With gamma rays, most likely the scattering is in the forward direction and that the probability of scattering backwards or in larger angles is relatively constant as the angle approaches 90.
I. INTRODUCTION
In effort to reduce personnel exposure to ionizing radiation, attenuation or shielding of gamma radiation is an important component of radiation safety programs. Information about shielding properties of commonly used shielding materials is available in many data resources bases. Selecting the most appropriate shielding material for a given source of ionizing radiation will require knowledge of the source of radiation, application of attenuation data from available resources, and understanding of the basic principles gamma ray interactions with matter [1, 2].
For the investigation of materials (solid or liquid) which can be used for shielding against radiation, study of interaction of nuclear radiations with matter is very important. These radiation-shielding materials have great importance for many scientific, engineering and medical applications. The data based on mass attenuation coefficient and half value layer is very useful for the purpose to identify the various radiation shielding materials [3]. Despite the advantages of the existing shielding materials (concrete for example) some limitation are also associated with them. A concrete is not transparent to visible light thus restricting one to see through it. Secondly,