Lab Exercise - Neutron Activation of Silver and two Component Decay

Developed By

Section of Radiochemistry
Institute of Chemistry
Faculty of Mathematics and Natural sciences
University of Oslo

Learning Goals

Understand the principle of neutron activation
Deconvolution of a decay curve with two components

Explanation and Exercise Guide

Theory

Neutron Activation of Ag with a Pu/Be n-source (read)
How to Calculate End-of-Irradiation Yields of Ag-isotopes (read)

Experimental Procedure

Neutron Activation of Ag
How to Measure the Decay of n-activated Silver
Analyzing a Two-component Decay Curve
Analyzing the Production Curve of n-activated Ag

Questions for the Students

Use the cross-sections from the nuclear chart, the half life and a thermal neutron-flux of 2*10³ n/cm²s to estimate the relative amount you will produce for a 144 s irradiation. Which nuclei will be dominant?

Determine what kind of gamma radiation to expect from the silver isotopes produced in the irradiation and their associated relative intensity (e.g. from [Berkeley/Lund database]).

Safety Aspects

Equipment

Need silver disk and a neutron source, or if using RoboLab an internet connection.

Preparation for the lab supervisor

Feedback from Users and Supervisors

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Pages Linked to this site

RoboLab

It is possible to perform this exercise with RoboLab