• Question: have you worked with radioactive chemicals

    Asked by chewyoda007 to Alexander, Josh, Serena, Simone, Stuart on 24 Jun 2013.
    • Photo: Josh Makepeace

      Josh Makepeace answered on 24 Jun 2013:

      Hey chewyyoda007 🙂 My samples aren’t normally radioactive, but some of the experiments I do make them become radioactive!!

      When we fire neutrons at our samples to find out how the atoms are arranged in the sample, the side effect is that the neutrons often make the sample radioactive. So when we’re doing those experiments, we have to wear a little badge that monitors how much radiation we receive. Also, when the sample is finished in the experiment, we can’t hand it until the radiation has gone away.

    • Photo: Stuart Archer

      Stuart Archer answered on 25 Jun 2013:

      Similar to Josh, I’ve not worked with anything that is radioactive itself, but one of the tests we do a lot is called ‘X-Ray Diffraction’. X-Rays are a form of radiation, and we have to be careful not to expose ourselves to them. We use a Geiger counter (a device that measures radioactivity) to check the equipment for any X-Ray leaks before we use it!

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