Re: Radon class demo

[WALKIEWICZ@edinboro.edu]

Rick:  Thanks for remembering the "Radioactiveball" article.  I also had a
colleague take data while at a racquetball tournament, and the following table
was published as a letter to the editor in 'The Physics Teacher', p. 260,
May 1993:

	Men's Open		595 net counts/5 min
	Mixed A Doubles 	426	"
	Mixed Open Doubles	424	"
	Men's B			164	"
	Men's C			 96	"

The conclusion that the higher level of competition yields higher activities 
is so obvious that we didn't even bother trying to verify the data :)

I also published "The Hot Balloon (Not Air)" in The Physics Teacher, pp.344-345,
Sept. 1995, in which is described a procedure of 'charging' a balloon, let it
accumulate radon progeny for about 45 minutes, deflate and count.  This
concentrated activity can easily provide several thousand counts per 5-min
interval above background.  One activity of 10,051 in 5-min was remarkable
since it was obtained in a room with a measured Radon level of 0.3 pCi/l
using a femto-TECH Model 510 CRM.  (Yes, I like those units!)

Tom Walkiewicz, RSO			814-732-2468
Dept. Physics
Edinboro University
Edinboro, PA 16444
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