April 19, 2024, 05:09:22 AM
Forum Rules: Read This Before Posting


« previous next »
Pages: [1]   Go Down

Topic: what is it?  (Read 13439 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

jackstone5291

  • Guest
what is it?
« on: February 22, 2006, 06:07:59 PM »
I just read the story about the radioactive boyscout and heard that he made a neutron gun. I was wondering what it was and how it work. Any information you could tell me is great. Thnaks for your time.

Jack Stone
Logged

Offline Bakegaku

  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 269
  • Mole Snacks: +20/-5
  • Gender: Male
  • Hydrogen peroxide is my miracle cure to everything
Re:what is it?
« Reply #1 on: February 22, 2006, 11:43:40 PM »
A neutron gun is a device that creates a stream of neutrons that will be aimed at a target.  A radioactive substance inside it will give off alpha radiation, which will go through a layer of metal and cause it to give off neutrons.  

I might be able to give more information, but I won't tell you how to make one.  Not that I really know how to make a good one myself.  ::)
« Last Edit: March 04, 2006, 08:45:36 PM by bakegaku »
Logged
"True knowledge exists in knowing that you know nothing"
-Socrates

"I see, I forget.  I hear, I remember.  I do, I understand"
-Confucius

"Nothing will benefit human health and increase chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet."
- Albert Einstein?

"American cartoons place characters in situations; anime
places situations around characters.  Anime characters
are not like fictional characters but more like fictional
people; their actions stem directly from their personalities,
and not just as a means to move the story's plot
forward.  We are made to sympathize with them, and
not simply be entertained by them."
~John Oppliger~

Offline jdurg

  • Banninator
  • Retired Staff
  • Sr. Member
  • *
  • Posts: 1366
  • Mole Snacks: +106/-23
  • Gender: Male
  • I am NOT a freak.
Re:what is it?
« Reply #2 on: March 03, 2006, 10:20:05 AM »
Be itself is not radioactive.  It only emits neutrons when exposed to alpha particles.  Polonium itself is radioactive, but it does not decay by neutron emission.
Logged
"A real fart is beefy, has a density greater than or equal to the air surrounding it, consists

Offline Bakegaku

  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 269
  • Mole Snacks: +20/-5
  • Gender: Male
  • Hydrogen peroxide is my miracle cure to everything
Re:what is it?
« Reply #3 on: March 04, 2006, 08:48:10 PM »
Quote from: jdurg on March 03, 2006, 10:20:05 AM
Be itself is not radioactive.  It only emits neutrons when exposed to alpha particles.  Polonium itself is radioactive, but it does not decay by neutron emission.

Yeah, Be is used to give off the neutrons (the "layer of metal" mentioned in my previous post).  I think the "radioactive boyscout" used Americium in his gun, though.  
Logged
"True knowledge exists in knowing that you know nothing"
-Socrates

"I see, I forget.  I hear, I remember.  I do, I understand"
-Confucius

"Nothing will benefit human health and increase chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet."
- Albert Einstein?

"American cartoons place characters in situations; anime
places situations around characters.  Anime characters
are not like fictional characters but more like fictional
people; their actions stem directly from their personalities,
and not just as a means to move the story's plot
forward.  We are made to sympathize with them, and
not simply be entertained by them."
~John Oppliger~

Offline lemonoman

  • Atmospheric
  • Chemist
  • Full Member
  • *
  • Posts: 607
  • Mole Snacks: +71/-8
  • Gender: Male
Re:what is it?
« Reply #4 on: March 06, 2006, 01:51:17 AM »
Quote from: bakegaku on March 04, 2006, 08:48:10 PM
Yeah, Be is used to give off the neutrons (the "layer of metal" mentioned in my previous post).  I think the "radioactive boyscout" used Americium in his gun, though.  

He must have opened up a LOT of smoke detectors....lol...
Logged

Offline constant thinker

  • mad scientist
  • Sr. Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1275
  • Mole Snacks: +85/-45
  • Gender: Male
Re:what is it?
« Reply #5 on: March 06, 2006, 06:37:09 PM »
I happen to remember a discussion on the amount of Am in a smoke detector. Didn't we decide you'd need a couple hundred smoke detectors to yield any decent amount of Am. Maybe it was more.
Logged
"The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, 'I'm from the government and I'm here to help.' " -Ronald Reagan

"I'm for anything that gets you through the night, be it prayer, tranquilizers, or a bottle of Jack Daniels." -Frank Sinatra

Offline Bakegaku

  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 269
  • Mole Snacks: +20/-5
  • Gender: Male
  • Hydrogen peroxide is my miracle cure to everything
Re:what is it?
« Reply #6 on: March 06, 2006, 09:00:02 PM »
Quote from: constant thinker on March 06, 2006, 06:37:09 PM
I happen to remember a discussion on the amount of Am in a smoke detector. Didn't we decide you'd need a couple hundred smoke detectors to yield any decent amount of Am. Maybe it was more.

all-in-all, smoke detectors aren't too hard to come by.  I think he pretended he was working for a school and bought several hundred broken ones at a discount for "educational reasons."

Oh, and in my last post I didn't mean he used Americium to produce neutrons, he used it to produce the initial radiation that went through the beryllium and created neutrons.  That might have been unclear.
Logged
"True knowledge exists in knowing that you know nothing"
-Socrates

"I see, I forget.  I hear, I remember.  I do, I understand"
-Confucius

"Nothing will benefit human health and increase chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet."
- Albert Einstein?

"American cartoons place characters in situations; anime
places situations around characters.  Anime characters
are not like fictional characters but more like fictional
people; their actions stem directly from their personalities,
and not just as a means to move the story's plot
forward.  We are made to sympathize with them, and
not simply be entertained by them."
~John Oppliger~

Offline pantone159

  • Mole Herder
  • Chemist
  • Full Member
  • *
  • Posts: 492
  • Mole Snacks: +54/-6
  • Gender: Male
  • A mole of moles doesn't smell so nice...
    • Go Texas Soccer!!
Re:what is it?
« Reply #7 on: March 06, 2006, 09:39:26 PM »
Quote from: constant thinker on March 06, 2006, 06:37:09 PM
I happen to remember a discussion on the amount of Am in a smoke detector.

A smoke detector has around 1 microcurie of Am-241, which comes out to 0.27 micrograms.
Logged
Pages: [1]   Go Up
« previous next »
Sponsored Links