1. Explain why an ionization chamber operating in current mode cannot detect the energy of a single radiation particle whereas a proportional counter operating in pulse mode can detect single radiation particle energy.
2. Break down how a proportional counter works into 5 or more parts starting with an incident radiation particle and ending with a signal the user can observe. Please use one sentence to explain each of the five parts. Show this with a diagram.
3. Calculate the charge represented by the positive ions (or free electrons) created when a 4.2 MeV alpha particle is stopped in Argon.
4. Explain how the Principle of Compensation and the Bragg-Gray principle are used in the measurement of gamma-ray exposure.
5. Explain which region(s) of operation for gas-filled detectors (e.g. Pulse Amplitude vs. Applied Voltage) will result in a Geiger avalanche and why. Show which region(s) these are on the regions of operation diagram.
6. Compare and contrast a sealed tube proportional counter to a windowless flow proportional counter. Cite at least 2 major similarities and 2 major differences.
7. A voltage of 2800 V is applied to a cylindrical proportional counter with an anode wire radius of 0.020 cm and cathode inner radius of 2.0 cm.
a. Determine the electric field in V/m at a radius of 1 cm.
b. Determine the electric field in V/m at 0.01 cm from the anode surface.
8. Explain how internal and external quenching improve the performance of a Geiger counter.
9. Explain how the features of the Geiger Counting Plateau impact the accurate measurement of radiation sources with different energies.
10. Show an example on the internet for a specific application for:
a. Ion chamber
b. Proportional counter
c. Geiger counter
Examples might be a specific company or a research lab using that type of gas detector for a specific purpose, a news story where that type of gas detector is used, etc. Note: images of the detectors used is sufficient for a diagram in this case.