Experiment to investigate the efficiency of the Geiger-

Müller counter at detecting alpha and beta radiation

Department of Physics and Astronomy

Second Year Laboratory Report

Abstract

The foremost purpose of this experiment was to investigate the efficiency of a Geiger-
Müller tube when detecting alpha and beta-minus radiation independently. It was found
that the efficiency of detecting alpha and beta-minus radiation was 0.16 ± 0.03 %, and
56 ± 14 % respectively. This supports what previous research had suggested [1]; that
Geiger-Müller counters are poor at detecting alpha radiation due its low penetration
power but that they are significantly better at detecting beta radiation. There was also a
secondary objective; to determine the half-life of metastable indium-116, which was
found to be 54.5 ± 0.3 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑢𝑡𝑒𝑠. This is consistent with the accepted value of
54.3 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑢𝑡𝑒𝑠 [2].

[1] Cal Poly Pomona University, California, “An introduction to Geiger counters”,
https://www.cpp.edu/~pbsiegel/phy432/labman/geiger.pdf. Accessed 2nd November 2019.

[2] National Nuclear Data Center. "NuDat 2.x database". Brookhaven National Laboratory.
https://www.nndc.bnl.gov/nudat2/. Accessed 3rd November 2019.

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1. Introduction

The Geiger-Müller counter is an instrument used to detect ionising radiation and it

The Geiger-Müller counter was first invented in 1928. Over 90 years later it is still
considered to be a key piece of safety equipment and is used in many nuclear settings.
In industry they are commonly used as a primary indicator to the levels of radiation one
is being exposed to. For example, they are used in many facilities with cyclotrons to
prevent over-exposure of humans to ionising radiation [4].

Given how useful and potentially lifesaving the Geiger-Müller counter is, better
understanding how they work and how efficient they are at detecting different types of
radiation is very important.

2. Apparatus

This experiment uses a simple setup consisting of a Geiger-Müller tube positioned above
a lead castle which contains the radioactive source under investigation. The lead castle
is used as it prevents background radiation from entering the tube. The Geiger-Müller
tube is connected to a count meter which displays the number of counts and can also
measure the voltage across the tube’s electrodes. Figure 1 illustrates this set up.

Figure 1. A diagram of the apparatus used in this experiment depicting the radioactive sample in the lead
castle facing upwards towards the Geiger-Müller tube along with the count meter. Additionally, a stopwatch
was used to measure the time intervals but is not shown here.

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The Geiger-Müller tube consists of a pair of electrodes arranged such that the wall of the
cylindrical tube is the cathode and the anode is constructed from a thin piece of a wire
located axially along the centre of the tube. The tube is filled with a low-pressure inert
gas, such as argon, to which a large potential difference is applied. The Geiger-Müller
tube for this experiment is an end-window type with a thin mica window (of low mass per
unit area) which transmits most of the radiation through without compromising the low-
pressure gas inside. A cross-section view of this construction can be seen in Figure 2.

Figure 2. A cross-section of the Geiger-Müller tube illustrating the low-pressure inert gas encased in a
cylinder (which acts as the cathode) with an axial central electrode (anode) which are connected to a power
supply and a counting circuit. The left wall of the tube is constructed from a thin mica window. Reproduced
from the BBC [5].

When ionising radiation penetrates the cylindrical chamber it ionises the low-pressure
gas, allowing it to become conductive as the free electrons travel toward the anode and
the positive ions travel much more slowly towards the negative cathode [3]. By
increasing the electric field across the chamber, the free electrons can gain enough
energy between collisions with the gas atoms to cause subsequent ionisation. These
subsequently produced electrons can then go on to cause further ionisations, in a chain-
reaction called a Townsend Avalanche [3]. The electron avalanches continue until a
discharge occurs along the central electrode and this produces a large voltage pulse
which can then be counted by the meter. This electron avalanche effect is the reason
why Geiger counters can record a pulse for just a single ionising particle.

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3. Theory

During radioactive decay, unstable nuclei will transform into more stable nuclei,
commonly through the emission of an alpha particle, beta particle or gamma ray. It is
inherently a random process where the disintegration rate (or rate of decay) is given by

𝑑𝑁
= −𝜆𝑁, (1)
𝑑𝑡

where 𝑁 is the number of unstable nuclei, λ is the decay constant and 𝑡 is the time. The
solution to Equation (1) can be written in terms of the activity of a sample, 𝐴 = 𝜆𝑁, and
is given by

𝐴 = 𝐴0 𝑒 −𝜆𝑡 , (2)

where 𝐴0 is the initial activity of the sample.

It is important to take into consideration the fact that radiation is emitted in all directions
from a source, therefore only a small fraction of the total radiation emitted enters the
Geiger-Müller tube. For a tube of radius 𝑎, a distance 𝑟 away from the source, the solid
angle, 𝛺, which the tube covers is given by

𝜋𝑎2
𝛺= . (3)
𝑟2

This is illustrated in Figure 3 on page 5. The effective activity, 𝐴𝑒𝑓𝑓 , (the activity resulting
in the emission of radiation entering the Geiger-Müller tube) is, therefore, given by

𝐴𝛺 𝐴𝑎2
𝐴𝑒𝑓𝑓 = = . (4)
4𝜋 4𝑟 2

Finally, for a radioactive source the half-life (the time taken for half the nuclei in a sample
to decay), 𝑡1/2 , is given by

ln 2
𝑡1/2 = . (5)
𝜆

4. Experimental Method

Prior to starting the main experiments, it was important to find the operating voltage range
of the Geiger-Müller tube. It was found that the threshold voltage (when radiation begins
to get detected) was approximately 500 𝑉 and the operating voltage range was found to
be 540 − 550 𝑉. This would be the voltage range used for the main experiments.

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Figure 3. A diagram illustrating the requirement for a solid angle correction. The radioactive source emits
radiation isotopically. Radiation will be distributed evenly across the sphere of radius 𝑟 but the opening of
the Geiger-Müller tube covers only a small area of this sphere and so receives only a fraction of the total
radiation emitted.

4.1 Efficiency with Different Radiation

The diameter of the Geiger-Müller tube, 2𝑎, was measured using a pair of Vernier
callipers and it was determined that 𝑎 = 12.35 ± 0.05 𝑚𝑚. Measuring 𝑟 was more difficult
as there was limited access inside the lead castle. It was estimated that 𝑟 = 10 ± 2 𝑚𝑚.
From these two measurements, the solid angle and its corresponding uncertainty, ∆𝛺,
were calculated using Equation (3) and

2 2
∆𝑎2 ∆𝑟 2
√
∆𝛺 = ± 𝛺 ( 2 ) + ( 2 ) , (6)
𝑎 𝑟

respectively. ∆𝑎2 is found using the formula

∆𝑎2 = ± 𝑎√2 ∆𝑎,

where ∆𝑎 = ± 0.05 𝑚𝑚, is the uncertainty in 𝑎. Likewise, ∆𝑟 2 can be found using the
uncertainty in 𝑟, ∆𝑟 = ± 2 𝑚𝑚.

Two different radioactive sources were used in this experiment; the alpha source was
americium-241 (241Am) and the beta source was lead-210 (210Pb). The two sources had
been obtained by the University at different times. The americium source was recorded
to have been delivered in January 1986 with an initial activity of 370 𝑘𝐵𝑞 and the lead
source was recorded to have had been delivered in April 1983 with an activity of 2.22 𝑘𝐵𝑞.

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For each source, the radioactive sample was placed inside the lead castle and the total
count was recorded over a period of ten minutes for the americium source and twenty
minutes for the lead source. The difference is the length of time was due to time
constraints. This was then repeated fives time for each source to reduce the statistical
errors and eliminate any anomalous results. The voltage across the Geiger-Müller tube
was kept as close to 545 𝑉 as possible throughout.

4.2 Half-Life of Indium-116

First, a piece of indium-115 (115In) foil was irradiated with neutrons for several hours in a
neutron tank before being transferred to the lead castle. When irradiated with neutrons
the stable indium-115 forms metastable indium-116 (116In*) which decays via beta
emission.

The number of counts was then recorded every minute until the count rate had fallen to
approximately 25% of the count rate in the first minute. This corresponded to around 2
half-lives and so it was then possible to determine the half-life from the data recorded.

5. Experimental Analysis

5.1 Efficiency with Different Radiation

For each source the expected activity, 𝐴, is calculated using Equation (2). The value of
the initial activity, 𝐴0 can be found in Section 4.1 and the decay constant, 𝜆, is calculated
using Equation (5) (the half-lives of americium-241 and lead-210 are 432.6 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠 and
22.2 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠 respectively [2]). The uncertainty in 𝐴, ∆𝐴, is found using

∆𝐴 = ±𝐴𝜆∆𝑡, (7)

where ∆𝑡 is the uncertainty in the time since the sample was acquired; ∆𝑡 = ±15 𝑑𝑎𝑦𝑠.
Using Equation (4) and the value for 𝛺 from Equation (3), the effective activity, 𝐴𝑒𝑓𝑓 , for
each source is calculated, along with its uncertainty, ∆𝐴𝑒𝑓𝑓 , given by

∆𝐴 2 ∆𝛺 2
∆𝐴𝑒𝑓𝑓 = ±𝐴𝑒𝑓𝑓 √( ) + ( ) . (8)
𝐴 𝛺

The effective activity at the time of the experiment is 140 ± 35 𝑘𝐵𝑞 for the americium
source and 290 ± 70 𝐵𝑞 for the lead source. This is the theoretical maximum activity that
could be detected by the Geiger-Müller tube for each source.

From the five measurements of the total counts for each source, the mean activity
recorded by the Geiger-Müller tube, 𝐴𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 , is 220 ± 5 𝐵𝑞 for americium and 160 ± 5 𝐵𝑞
for lead. The uncertainty of ±5 𝐵𝑞 is derived from the random fluctuations in voltage that
occurred. The human error in timing the ten/twenty-minute intervals is negligible.

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The efficiency of detection of the Geiger-Müller counter, 𝜂, is given by

𝐴𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛
𝜂= . (9)
𝐴𝑒𝑓𝑓

Using Equation (9), it can be found that the efficiency of the Geiger-Müller tube detecting
alpha radiation and beta-minus radiation is

𝜂𝛼 = 0.16 ± 0.03 %,
𝜂𝛽 = 56 ± 14 %,
respectively.

5.2 Half-Life for Indium-116

𝐴
Using Equation (2), plotting a graph of ln ( 𝐴0 ) against time, 𝑡, should yield a straight-line
graph of gradient 𝜆. Here, 𝐴 is the counts in any one-minute period and 𝐴0 is the count
for the first minute period. Equation (5) can then be used to determine the half-life of
metastable indium-116 using the value of 𝜆 obtained from the graph. Figure 4 on page 8
displays the graph of the data obtained for the metastable indium-116 source.

The error in the number of counts for any minute is related to the human error in timing
the minute, approximately ±0.4 𝑠. This is not a systematic error where every minute is
0.4 𝑠 longer due to the reaction time, as minutes in which readings are taken are
consecutive, so an increase in time in one period (one minute) will potentially decrease
the period time in the next. There is also the resolution of the count display to consider,
contributing an uncertainty of ±50 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑠 to each reading.

The reduced Chi-Squared value suggests that the data has a good fit and so can be used
in further analysis. Using Equation (5) and the value of 𝜆 obtained from Figure 4, the half-
life of metastable indium-116 is calculated to be 𝑡1/2 = 54.5 ± 0.3 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑢𝑡𝑒𝑠.

6. Conclusion

The main objective during this experiment was to determine the efficiency of the Geiger-
Müller tube at detecting alpha radiation from an americium-241 source and beta radiation
from a lead-210 source. It has been found that the efficiency of the Geiger-Müller tube
detecting alpha radiation and beta radiation is 𝜂𝛼 = 0.16 ± 0.03 % and 𝜂𝛽 = 56 ± 14 %,
respectively. Secondly, the half-life of metastable indium-116 was determined to be
𝑡1/2 = 54.5 ± 0.3 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑢𝑡𝑒𝑠 and is consistent with the accepted value of 54.3 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑢𝑡𝑒𝑠 [2].

In the efficiency experiment, the primary source of uncertainty came in determining the
solid angle. This was due to lack of access inside the lead castle which hampered
measurement taking. In the half-life experiment, the leading factor in the uncertainty was
human error.
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 )
𝐴0
𝐴
ln (

𝐴
Figure 4. A graph of ln ( 0 ) against time, 𝑡, for the metastable indium-116 source. The uncertainty in the
𝐴
𝐴0 ∆𝐴
ln ( ) increases with time (as the activity of the source decreases) due to the factor becoming larger
𝐴 𝐴
2
as A decreases. The graph has reduced Chi-Squared, 𝜒𝑅 = 0.93 and the gradient of the best fit line is
given by 𝑚 = 𝜆 = 0.01272 ± 0.00006 𝑠 −1 .

References

[1] Cal Poly Pomona University, California, “An introduction to Geiger counters”,
https://www.cpp.edu/~pbsiegel/phy432/labman/geiger.pdf, accessed 02/11/2019.

[2] National Nuclear Data Center. "NuDat 2.x database". Brookhaven National
Laboratory. https://www.nndc.bnl.gov/nudat2/, accessed 03/11/2019.

[3] Lilley, J.S. “Detectors and Instrumentation”. In Nuclear Physics, Principles and
Applications, ed D.J. Sandiford et al., pp151-156. West Sussex: John Wiley &
Sons Ltd, 2001.

[4] Kaur, A. and Sharma, S. Radiation surveillance in and around cyclotron facilities.
Indian Journal of Nuclear Medicine. Oct-Dec 2012; 27 (4): pp243-245.

[5] Figure 2, designed by the BBC. “Nuclear Radiation”, page 5.