Re: H-3 in desiccant (Drierite)?

["DAVE GILMORE" <DGILMORE@navajo.astate.edu>]

> The Drierite poses a different problem.  The short answer to your question
> "Can you count drierite suspended
> in cocktail." the answer is definitely no for quantitative work.  Scint.
> counting only provides quantitative 
> results for homogeneous samples.  For P-32, the two phase system (suspended
> solids and LSC) might not 
> affect efficiency greatly, but for H-3 most of the activity could be in the
> solid phase and the weak 
> H-3 betas cannot reach the cocktail.  
> 
> However, MgSO4 is pretty soluble in water, and will not, I believe produce a
> colored solution.  So, to 
> quantitatively measure the activity in the MgSO4, I would dissolve a
> measured quantity in a measured 
> volume of water and count a sample of that.  

My earlier comment seems not to have been read by anybody except 
Franz, so here it goes again:
    Drierite is CALCIUM sulfate, not magnesium, and is NOT 
readily soluble in water.  You will not be able to dissolve it to 
count it and pour it down the sink.
    If someone else eventually answers this question, you will need 
to take this error (mistaking MgSO4 for CaSO4) into account.



David F. Gilmore
Assistant Professor of Environmental Biology    0  0 
P.O. Box 599, Dept. of Biological Sciences       __    "have a day" 
Arkansas State University 
State University, AR 72467
dgilmore@navajo.astate.edu
ph  501-972-3082    fax 501-972-2638