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Radiation Simulator v1.0
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Radiation Simulation: Materials such as Barium 137 are metastable and spontaneously radiate with a half-life of 2.55 mintues 663 keV gamma rays, the result producing a more stable version of Barium. The half-life of a radiative material is the time in which half of the material survives.This simulator uses dice as a metaphor for a radioactive material, where probability and statistics are used in calculations to predict the materials decay rate, or half-life for example. Here you can select the number of dice to roll, the number of faces on your identical dice, and the di's face number to associate to the decay simulation, for example, a six-sided dice would be considered as a decaying if a 3 is rolled. Most understand the probability of this case being 1 in 6, or 0.167 (16.7%).
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Setup: This Google Sheet utilizes Javascript code to produce simulated data. Generally Javascript code running on a client machine is deemed risky. To initiate the use of Javascript for this sheet, under the menu which is located above the sheet content, select under Tools, Script Editor. You will be prompted through a series of steps via Google to allow scripting, one of which includes using the Advanced link and approving its use. Once approved, you will see in the same menu a new option "Dice Simulation" which has two options, Roll Dice, and Clean Sheets.
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Operation: This simulator has three associated sheets (README, SimulationData, and SummaryData), these sheets selectable via tabs at the bottom of this spreadsheet. Select the SimulationData sheet and enter three paramaters, # of dice (200), # of sides (6), and the death side (3), that is the side you declare as associated with the decay process. Once you've selected these (or maintain defaults) then use the "Dice Simulation" option Roll Dice. For large numbers of dice this may take some time. Notice that a timestamp and a "roller" (person's name) is identified, imagine these people as being part of your team. You might also notice that next to the dice face rolled, a value of TRUE appears when the death face is rolled. This feature allows you to more quickly sense the rate of decays. Continue to "Roll Dice" via the menu option until you reach a point where you have no more dice (material) to roll (decay).
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Analysis: As you were rolling the dice you may of noticed the SummaryData sheet as being populated with a report of the roll #, the # of dice rolled, the # of death dice rolled (decay), and the # of survivors. Simultaneously, a graph of the number of survivors to roll number is produced. Your task is to create a second plot that demonstrates a direct relationship between the Natural Logarithm of the survival number to roll, obtaining the slope of a fitted trendline, and reporting that slope in relation to the half-life and decay rate.
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Comments to david.demuth@vcsu.edu.
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References and resources:
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YouTube: Uranium in a Cloud Chamber
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Wikipedia: Barium
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Pasco: Isotope Generator Kit (Barium-137 m) - SN-7995A
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WIkipedia: Amercium
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International Medcom CRM-100 Digital Radiation Monitor
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Vernier Radiation Monitor
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Scientific American: Half-Life Coins
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Original Project
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Link to this Spreasheet: https://goo.gl/sxnTxM
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