Re: Practical demonstration of a half-life

[Mr Jo <mjo@scs.unr.edu>]

I prepared a brochure for non technical people which I call "Radiation in
our lives". In half life section, I added this phrase "... For example, if a
bucket is filled with water and has a very small hole, it will retain water
for a much longer time than a bucket with a large hole. In the same manner,
we may consider the small hole as a long half life and the large hole as a
short half life. The amount of water escaping through the holes may be
considered as the amount of radiation emitted." I normally add a comment
during this section that a long half life may not necessarily mean "bad".
This statement may not be technically correct depending on how you look at
it.

I have felt that my audiences understood the concept well. It may not work
for everybody.

One caution: whatever you do, don't kick the bucket. M. Jo
========================================================
Myung Chul Jo, RSO
EH&S, Mail Stop 328
University of Nevada, Reno
Reno, Nevada 89557
(702)784-4540
(702)784-4553 fax
mjo@scs.unr.edu


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