A factory uses a radioactive source to monitor the thickness of metal sheets. The sheets are 5 mm thick. Which type of radiation would be most suitable for ...
Question 1 Report
A factory uses a radioactive source to monitor the thickness of metal sheets. The sheets are 5 mm thick.
Which type of radiation would be most suitable for this purpose?
Answer Details
The factory needs a radiation type that can partially penetrate a 5 mm thick metal sheet, so that the detector reading changes measurably as the sheet's thickness varies, while still being stopped enough by the metal to give a usable, changing signal.
Alpha radiation is not suitable: its range in air is only a few centimetres and it is completely absorbed by even a thin sheet of paper, let alone 5 mm of metal, so no radiation at all would reach the detector regardless of thickness.
Beta radiation is not suitable either for a sheet this thick: beta particles are stopped by only a few millimetres of a light solid such as aluminium, so at 5 mm they would already be almost completely absorbed, making the detector unable to distinguish further changes in thickness.
Gamma radiation is the most suitable choice: it is penetrating enough to pass through several millimetres of metal in varying amounts, so the intensity reaching the detector changes measurably (and usefully) as the sheet thickness changes.
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