Measurement of β-decay energy spectrum - designing an experiment

Radioaktivnost je ena izmed večno aktualnih tematik, tako z znanstvenega, kot tudi polito-sociološkega ter naravovarstvenega vidika. Ob teoretičnem znanju, ki ga študentje pridobijo tekom študija, pa jim eksperimentalno delo omogoča boljši vpogled v to tematiko. Namen pričujoče diplomske naloge je izdelava nove eksperimentalne vaje, pri kateri študentje merijo emisijski spekter sevanih elektronov pri β- razpadu. Vaja temelji na gibanju nabitega delca v magnetnem polju, saj se meritve energij sevanih elektronov izvajajo s pomočjo magnetnega spektrometra. Ob danem konstantnem polmeru gibanja, se s spreminjanjem vrednosti gostote magnetnega polja, spreminjajo tudi energije elektronov, ki prispejo do detektorja. Iz zveze med energijo elektrona in gostote magnetnega polja, ki smo jo izpeljali na podlagi gibanja relativističnih elektronov v magnetnem polju, lahko iz meritev sklepamo na obliko energijskega spektra. Na osnovi dobljenih rezultatov se študentje prepričajo o zvezni naravi β razpada ter se poglobijo v fizikalne zakonitosti opaženega pojava.Radioactivity is one of the main burning issues throughout history, whether from scientific, political, social or environmentalist aspect. Apart from theoretical knowledge students gain during their study it is the experimental work that offers a better insight into the topic. The purpose of this thesis is designing a new experiment where student measure emission spectrum of emitted electrons during β-decay. The experiment is based on the motion of a charged particle in a magnetic field, for the measurements are being carried out via magnetic spectrometer. Given a fixed radius of motion and while changing the value of magnetic field, energies of the electrons that reach the detector change as well. From the relation between the electron’s energy and magnetic field, derived from the principles that govern the motion of relativistic electrons in a magnetic field, the relation between the electron’s energy and the magnetic field can lead to a conclusion about the shape and the form of the energy spectrum. Based on the measurements, students can realize the continuous nature of the spectrum and are deepening their knowledge of the laws that govern the observed phenomenon