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pg.1
Table of contents
Table of contents-pg #1
Purpose-pg.#4
Hypothesis-Pg.#4
Procedure- Pg.#5
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Muons surround us and interact with us all the time. They are unseen, but are
EPPG). Before we discuss where muons come from we must address cosmic rays.
Cosmic rays, or cosmic radiation is a form of background radiation that we, as humans,
are subjected to everyday. Cosmic radiation is the radiation that comes from the
universe, including our Sun and supernovas (Friedlander 17). Since they come from the
sun and supernovas primarily you can probably guess what they are mostly made of…
Hydrogen which is the most abundant element in our universe. (Friedlander 15). When
cosmic rays enter our atmosphere and collide with an electrically neutralized atom, and
knocks electron(s) out of said particle and leaves residue called ions or ionized particles
in the atmosphere (Friedland 17). These ions become mesons or pions which in turn
become muons.
Radiation prevents cells from doing their intended functions. For example, when DNA is
damaged by ionized radiation, it repairs fairly quickly, but not always properly and when
damaging many DNA strands at once it is probable that it will not be repaired properly.
When repairs are done improperly it can lead to things such as cancer (Robert Peter
Gale, M.D., and Eric Lax). Not only cancer, but radiation burns and other side effects
such as nausea and vomiting occur when exposed to radiation although this is only
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when exposed to radioactive substances which doesn’t happen that often. The real
problems they present are for long term space travel. The reason we are not always
burning and and vomiting is because of our atmosphere. “Earth's magnetic field and
atmosphere shields the planet from 99.9 percent of the radiation from space.” stated by
Apr. 2016. After leaving our atmosphere humans get exposed to 0.66 sievert that is the
Apr. 2016. To put into perspective “1 sievert is associated with a 5.5 percent increase in
the risk of fatal cancers. The normal daily radiation dose received by the average
Elizabeth Howell Space.com. “What Are Cosmic Rays?” Space.com, 21 Apr. 2016.
This now poses the question of how do we protect ourselves from muons. Well in
the case of humans that stay well within our atmosphere we are relatively safe as
mentioned earlier, but in the case of long term space travel the science is relatively
undiscovered. Some hypothesize that water is the best solution because life on earth
could start under water without an atmosphere as protection ( Robert Peter Gale, M.D.,
and Eric Lax pg. 138), while others claim things such as foils and plastics are the
answer (Wall). No matter how you look at it, this particular area of science is relatively
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Purpose: Do certain materials block cosmic rays more effectively than others?
Hypothesis: If water blocked radiation before plant life helped create an atmosphere
prevented the majority of radiation from hitting then water will protect the phone from
cosmic radiation the best meaning the least rays will be counted. Other materials such
as plastic and lead should also effectively block muons caused by cosmic rays, and we
should also observe a decrease in muons counted when these materials are used, as
well.
Materials:
● Timer
● Wooden box
● Phone
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Procedure:
● Constants: Same position of phone, same surface area of material, same length
same environment.
● Control: no blocker
7. Stop app
10. Repeat steps 1-9 with same blocker two more times
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Results
Raw Data
Material Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3 Average Std Dev RSD
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Data analysis
The data shows that lead foil, plastic bags and water all blocked muons to some
extent. When compared to “nothing”, all three materials showed a decrease in muons
counted on the detector. The data also shows that no one material was better than
another. Lead, plastic, and water all blocked muons to a similar extent. Water may
have had no effect since the detector had to be wrapped in plastic bag, in order to be
submerged. Since there is no difference between the plastic bag and the water, which
includes the plastic bag, it would appear that water had no effect in blocking muons.
One possible issue with the water experiment is that it wasn’t possible to remove all the
air pockets from the plastic bag during the measurement. Therefore, the effective depth
of the detector in the water may have been variable. That may be partially responsible
for the larger standard deviation in the data for the water, which had a relative standard
deviation of 10% vs 3-5% for the other materials. To improve these results, finding a
methodology to submerge the detector at a consistent depth without air bubbles would
need to be found.
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Conclusion
prevent muons better than the other materials. By just looking at the separate trials and
the averages plastic does a better job of preventing muons than water or lead foil, but
looking at the standard deviation of each of the trials it shows that all of the materials
have about the same effect on muons counted. While all of these results are better than
the 182 muons counted with no protection, water, plastic and lead are about equivalent
in muon stopping ability over the course of 9 hours. The average muons counted for
water was about 158, plastic bags had a count of about 155, and lead foil had a count of
about 163 plastic bags has the most potent effect but the standard is about ten percent
of plastics mean putting it at a maximum of 163 muons counted while waters mean puts
it at 166 and lead foil’s muon counts reaches 172. All of these numbers overlap showing
The water result also shows that water may not have any effect, at all, since the
detector was covered by a plastic bag. It would be expected that the water trial would
have a lower count value than plastic, since it would be combination of the two
materials. The results did not show this, though it is possible that the detector was not
Further studies, focusing one material at a time, would help better understand the
effect of materials blocking muons. For instance, changing the thickness of the lead foil
or plastic bag would better assess the effectiveness of a material. Similarly, changing
the depth of the water would better describe whether water has any impact on blocking
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muons. If we are to apply this information to events like space travel, where weight of
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pg.11
Bibliography:
○ URL: https://www.space.com/32644-cosmic-rays.html
Radiation
○ URL:
https://www.space.com/21561-space-exploration-radiation-protectio
n-plastic.html
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○ URL:
http://www.hep.vanderbilt.edu/~webstems/qnweb/qnpptr/What_is_a_Muon
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Acknowledgments
I would like to acknowledge my father for supporting me throughout this
experiment. Although i can be difficult at times he stuck with me and I would not be able
to have completed this project without his morale and financial support.
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