Geiger Counter Check Source – Uranium Glass & Uranium Glaze Pottery (M02)

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Seller: cool_science ✉️ (8,324) 0%, Location: Cornwall, GB, Ships to: WORLDWIDE, Item: 132119976277 Geiger Counter Check Source – Uranium Glass & Uranium Glaze Pottery (M02). MNS_EBAY-M02

Uranium glass & Uranium glaze pottery Geiger counter check source...

Uranium glass disk with trefoil design and a fragment of Uranium glaze pottery, both can be used as a Geiger counter check source.

These Uranium glass and Uranium glaze pottery samples are perfectly legal to own and sell in the UK and they are NOT banned or restricted on ebay or from shipping via Royal Mail.

These Uranium Glass and Uranium glaze pottery samples are not toys and are not suitable for children as they contain small parts and as such represent a choking hazard.

Keep out of reach of children at all times.

This shows the Uranium glass being illuminated by UV light...

  • The Uranium Glass is designed to be used as a display piece or it can be used as a Geiger counter check source, the roughly circular Uranium glass sample has a mass between sixty and seventy grams and has a sunken trefoil image on the bottom.
  • We have included several images, some show the Uranium glass in ordinary daylight and some while illuminated by ultraviolet light (which makes the Uranium glass fluoresce with an eerie green yellow glow), we have also included two images showing the Uranium glass and pottery samples next to rulers so that you can have some idea of the scale, so please be sure to look at all the images.
  • Please read the full description.

    Use as a Geiger counter check source...

    The Uranium glaze pottery...

    What can be detected...

    Alpha radiation has poor penetrating power, Uranium glazed pottery emits alpha beta and gamma radiation however the alpha radiation is almost completely stopped by the vitreous nature of the glaze, even in air, at normal atmospheric pressure alpha particles can travel only a few centimetres at best. We tested the alpha emissions using an “EMI Alpha Probe Type AP3” connected to a “series 900 mini-monitor” and only detected between 1 and 3 alpha particles/second.

    Beta radiation is strongly attenuated by the pottery glaze though not nearly as much as alpha radiation so a good deal of the beta particles emitted escape the glaze and can be detected.

    Gamma radiation is not realy inhibited by the glaze at all so practically all of gamma radiation escapes the glaze and can be detected, however, the uranium glazed pottery does not emit a great deal of gamma radiation.

     

    Some things you cannot do...

    On ebay and other places it is quite common to find devices and instruments described as Geiger counters that are not, these devices which are often a legacy of the cold war era are dosimeter type devices that will only respond to quite high levels of radiation, these can be a trap for young players who want to buy a Geiger counter only to be disappointed, and not just young players either, the pen type dosimeters that can be found and often called Geiger counters will not work either.

    Geiger counters and such devices that are designed for measuring only relatively high levels of radiation will not work with Uranium glazed pottery, or will give you very disappointing results, for example, a CDV-715 is designed for measuring relatively high levels of radiation and will not work with Uranium glazed pottery.

    These are not dedicated calibrated test sources so you won’t be able to use one of these to calibrate a device, these probably won’t give good results with the hand-held scintillation type detectors that attempt to identify radio nuclei (RIIDs), they may work with some of these devise but others they may not.

    Alpha particle spark gap type detectors also often called Geiger counters, these will not work, for these you need a good alpha source such as the Americium 241 source found in most domestic smoke detectors.

    Some Geiger counters may seem suitable because their documentation or the scale on the device indicates they are capable of reading down into the low micro Sievert range, however if you can’t place the source physically close to the detectors GM tube or scintillation crystal you will not get the kind of readings you may be expecting, such devices are usually gamma only detectors and are meant for measuring gamma radiation that is coming from a relatively large area not a point source.

    It goes without saying that these specimens will NOT work with neutron detectors.

    The above is not an exhaustive list of things that won’t work or may disappoint you so here is something you should bear in mind; Uranium 238 has a half-life of approximately 4 and a half billion years and Uranium 235 has a half-life of over 703 million years; the Uranium glazed pottery is not going to run down or go faulty, so, if you are struggling to get some clicks out of your device or it is not working as you expected please remember that it is not the Uranium glazed pottery that is at fault.

     

    What about cloud chambers...

    The Uranium glazed pottery may give results in a cloud chamber but we would suggest that you don’t try using the uranium glass in a cloud chamber as there is a chance that you could cause thermal shock to the glass and crack it.

     

    Factors that can affect the readings you may obtain...

    There are many factors that can affect the kind of results you will obtain from a device and the list below is not exhaustive by any means but it does illustrate a few of the more important ones.

    • Faulty device
    • A device that is incorrectly configured
    • A device that is out of calibration
    • A device that is being used outside of its design specs; for example, in conditions that are too humid
    • A device that is not sensitive enough
    • Range selection set incorrectly
    • The human propensity for not being able to see the obvious (your device is working correctly and is giving you the correct readings but you are not reading the device correctly)
    • The distance between the Uranium glazed pottery and the actual GM tube or another detecting element (this can have a very great effect on the attainable readings)
    • Anything in-between the Uranium glazed pottery and the detector (including anything that is part of the device itself)
    • Labouring a point; human error!

     

    Some things you can do...

    There are plenty of Geiger counter and similar devices available on ebay and elsewhere that Uranium glaze pottery will work with.

     

    The Uranium glass...

    The Uranium glass can be used as a Geiger counter check source though the readings obtainable won’t be as high as the Uranium glaze pottery.

    What is Uranium Glass...

    A very brief history and explanation...

    Uranium glass is called Uranium glass because it contains Uranium, it is mildly radioactive and its activity depends upon the amount of Uranium in the glass and whether it is natural or depleted Uranium.

    The invention of Uranium glass is generally credited to Josef Reidel in 1830s Bohemia; he named the two types he produced Annagrun for the yellow-green glass and Annagelb for the yellow glass. However, yellow glass containing Uranium oxide has also been found in a mosaic in Italy which was dated to around 79 AD - so it looks like the idea wasn’t so ‘new’ after all!

    By the 1940s Uranium glass production had spread to Western Europe including France and England; it was also being produced in Japan and the USA. Between 1943 and 1958 American and UK governments did ban the use of uranium salts for commercial use as they wanted Uranium restricted to military use; so most Uranium glass produced after the early 1940s contains depleted Uranium as opposed to natural Uranium

    Uranium glass in its various forms is often called canary glass, custard glass, Vaseline glass or Depression glass. It has been used for all sorts of items including jewellery, tableware, lamps and vases and was very popular in 1920s and 1930s ‘Art Deco’ style glassware objects.

    Uranium glass was made according to many different recipes using different oxides or salts of Uranium depending on the colour required. It fluoresces with an eerie yellow green glow under UV light – but it does not ‘glow in the dark’ by itself! How bright the glass fluoresces depends on the amount of Uranium dissolved in the glass and also which other substances have been added to the glass to affect colour and opacity.

    Does Uranium glass glow in the dark...

    No, Uranium glass does not glow in the dark on its own...

    Uranium glass fluoresces with an eerie green yellow glow under UV light, how brightly it fluoresces depends on how much Uranium is dissolved in the glass, it also depends on a number of other factors such as the opacity of the glass and any other ingredients added to the glass, it also depends on the temperature of the glass, as Uranium glass gets hot its fluorescence diminishes, the wavelength of the UV light and its intensity also affect how bright the Uranium glass fluoresces, but the eerie glow exhibited is a photochemical phenomenon and not to do with its radioactivity.

    What is Uranium glaze pottery...

    A very brief history and explanation...

    Uranium glazes...

    Uranium glazes have been used for all kinds of ceramic materials from laboratory equipment, pottery and tiles to tableware. In fact, lots of houses and buildings constructed in the US during 1920-1940 had their bathrooms, kitchens and corridors kitted out with Uranium glazed wall and floor tiles.

     

    How this use for Uranium came about...

    It all started with Radium. After its discovery by the Curies, Radium was in demand by many businesses, not least the manufacturers of watch, clock and aircraft dials; thus, Radium production boomed into a major industry in the 1920s and 1930s.

    All this booming industry required the mining of vast quantities of Uranium ore (it takes around 3 metric tons of Uranium ore to produce a gram of Radium 226). Once the Radium was extracted the Uranium rich remains were considered a waste product and it’s here that the ceramics industry got involved.

    Various ceramics industries, particularly in the United States, took advantage of this plentiful and inexpensive supply of Uranium waste as it was known that compounds of Uranium could be used in ceramic glazing. By varying the firing and other techniques used in the ceramics industry, Uranium compounds produced vibrant colours ranging from ivory, yellow, green, orange and red through to darker shades of red, blue and brown to black.

    Dimensions/Size, Weight for the Uranium glass disk...

    All dimensions are approximate...

    Please take a look at the images of the samples next to rulers so as to get a better idea of scale, please also bear in mind that the Uranium glass disks are NOT perfect circles.

      These are the approximate dimensions given in millimetres and inches with the mass given in grams and oz.

    • Diameter - 75mm (2.95 inches)
    • Thickness - 6mm (0.24 inches)
    • Mass - Between 60 and 70 grams (Between 2.12 and 2.47 oz)
    • Uranium Content - Approx. 1%

    Using a CANBERRA ADM-300 Survey Meter connected to a CANBERRA BSP-100A beta scintillation probe we obtained readings of greater than 3500 counts/minute from a 66gram (2.33 oz) disk, the CANBERRA BSP-100A beta scintillation probe has a large surface area that can accommodate and thus read from the entire diameter of the Uranium glass.

    We also tested the same sample using a CDV 700 6b with the original probe fitted and the beta window open, this gave readings that fluctuated between 200 and 300 counts/minute, these probes have a much smaller surface area and are therefore not able to efficiently read from the whole diameter of the disk, these probes are also not as sensitive, hence the much lower readings.

    Probes with a larger area and thinner window will generally give higher readings.

    Please remember that the reading that you will obtain from your setup will most likely be different.

    Dimensions/Size, Weight for the Uranium glaze pottery sample...

    All dimensions are approximate...

    The actual size, weight and shape of the Uranium glaze pottery sample will vary as will its colour, which can vary from red to orange.

    The Uranium glaze pottery samples are tested using a CANBERRA ADM-300 Survey Meter connected to a CANBERRA BSP-100A beta scintillation probe, and using this setup we select samples to give a reading of greater than 5000 counts/minute.

    Please remember that the reading that you will obtain from your setup will most likely be different.

    Shipping times. This is important, products being shipped internationally can take much longer to be delivered in some cases than the delivery times ebay states, the delivery times given by ebay are based on Royal Mail's estimated delivery time to the target country NOT the recipient, once the shipment has arrived in the target country it has to clear that country’s border controls/customs before it is handed over to that country’s postal system for sorting and delivery. We have absolutely no control over other country’s customs/border controls or postal system or how long it may be in their system. Customs are perfectly within their rights to open any packages and inspect them and we have no control over this. We also would like to point out that you are responsible for any additional import duties/taxes on the items. Some country’s border control/customs can take up to 45 days to clear items. You should also check to see if there are any delays or issues with your country’s postal system that may cause additional delays, and please bear in mind that at busy times it can take even longer for post to arrive for example as Christmas approaches. If you are an international customer and are not willing to be patient with delivery times and understanding of the fact that we are at the mercy of your country’s customs/border control and postal system, then please do not order. Why all of this, we try our best to give a good professional service and most people understand the issues involved, but some don’t or won't, and spoil the ebay experience. So from the MAD nuclear scientists, thank you in advance for your patience and understanding.
    • Condition: New
    • Brand: MAD Nuclear Scientists LTD
    • MPN: M02
    • EAN: 5060475550542

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