Modern Physics > Nuclear Physics > Radioactive Decay
DCS# 7D10.50
DICE RADIOACTIVE
DECAY MODEL
APPARATUS
30 dice
202-04-C5
document camera
201
laptop
206
DESCRIPTION
Model radioactive decay using
dice. The thirty dice represent radioactive nuclei, each roll is
a time increment, and some outcome, e.g. rolling a five or a six,
represents decay. After each roll, remove the decayed dice and
roll the rest. Plot number of dice remaining after each roll vs.
roll
number.
NOTES
The "dice" Graphical Analysis file
shows the theoretical curve N(n) = No(1-
λ)n where λ =1/3.
Enter the
experimental
values in the N' column and the
software will plot the results with error bars = sqrt(N'). This
assumes Poisson statistics, even though the number of nuclei is small.
A similar model
involves tossing pennies where tails = decayed nuclei.
