Home made X-Ray pictures!

[YT2095]

it`s something I`v been working on now for over a year, learning all I needed to and obtaining what I needed to, and Finally TODAY! I have my 1`st Positive result!

 

check this out! :

 

I`m using plain B&W photo paper, and made my own solns to develop and fix them.

I`m using Radium 226 in a small glass vial, and you can even see the x-ray shape it`s made as a result.

the Thorium 232 is plain metal, and evidently less "Hot" in way of Gamma, but does show a very neat outline of it`s shape on the paper.

 

the total exposure time was exactly 1 week to within the hour.

 

 

Enjoy

[thedarkshade]

Cool stuff YT. Real awesome;)!

[YT2095]

Thnx man

I think Ernest Rutherford would be quite pleased with the results also.

sometimes it`s nice to reproduce some of the Old experiments and discoveries made by such Giants, and aquire the skills needed to do them.

there`s Plenty of good learning to be done from these Heroes!

[insane_alien]

tried the alpha scattering with gold foil one yet? thats prety cool. maybe you could set up some photgraphic paper and try and see if any patterns show up.

[YT2095]

Alpha won`t expose this photo paper, I`ve tried.

[Ozone]

Very nice! I agree with replication of old experiments. I have frequently found that there are observations to be made that were not referred to in the original text (or where not observable using the instrument/apparatus of the time).

 

I thought it was Henry Becquerel who "discovered radioactivity" whilst creating the (1st?) radioautograph using various uranium salts.

 

http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1903/becquerel-bio.html

 

Cheers,

 

O3

[insane_alien]

it was the curies who discovered radioactivity. becquerel took it further and got a unit named after him whenwe went to SI.

 

rutherford was a major player in the area of radioactivity as well.

[YT2095]

aha! you know, you Could be Right!

 

I knew it was the mid 1890`s and that Rutherford was also "into" this area of work too.

 

Not to worry though, I`m sure Both would be quite pleased with the result

[thedarkshade]

Hey YT, how does it feel like to do something that Giants (as you say) were the only one to do in their time??

I hope I could do something like that too:-(!

[YT2095]

it feels Great actually, I`m really quite pleased, esp being able to do it in Todays day and age with all the Paranoia and garbage

 

but more importantly is that I get to see this 1`st hand! not out of a book or on the "net" but right In-Yer-Face close up and personal, and can make my Own observations that weren`t always documented, And I get to look at it with Added knowledge that wasn`t available back then, and from That point can plan my OWN experiments with the advantage of 20-20 hindsight

 

how does it feel? IT ROCKS!

[thedarkshade]

...and can make my Own observations that weren`t always documented,

You know, I've been doing such things myself too. I mean, looking things the way you want to and doing your own science. It's great! I've done some working too (but in physics) and I'm just waiting the right time to publish them, but there's always a dose of fear. A dose of something that makes you think "that's nothing man, you gonna fail!". But I've been trying very hard to get over that.

how does it feel? IT ROCKS!

I bet it does:-D!!!

[Ozone]

Its all good!

 

I still prefer the Curie as a unit; the Becquerel is just too small (unless you are looking at, say, Rn emanated from ground water, which is given in low pCi). Anyhoo, from the link:

 

"Becquerel decided to investigate whether there was any connection between X-rays and naturally occurring phosphorescence. He had inherited from his father a supply of uranium salts, which phosphoresce on exposure to light. When the salts were placed near to a photographic plate covered with opaque paper, the plate was discovered to be fogged. The phenomenon was found to be common to all the uranium salts studied and was concluded to be a property of the uranium atom. Later, Becquerel showed that the rays emitted by uranium, which for a long time were named after their discoverer, caused gases to ionize and that they differed from X-rays in that they could be deflected by electric or magnetic fields. For his discovery of spontaneous radioactivity Becquerel was awarded half of the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1903, the other half being given to Pierre and Marie Curie for their study of the Becquerel radiation."

 

Cheers,

 

O3

[swansont]

Cool. I remember a class years ago where the teacher exposed some polaroid film with radioactive sources, and then took a picture, and we saw the exposure from the radiation. But do-it-yourself is cooler than a store-bought apparatus.

[YT2095]

well my Next picture will be in about 2 weeks time, I`m using the Thorium metal plate but I`v sellotaped 2 sewing needles to it this time.

 

I`ll go for a roughly 2 week exposure as the the Th metal seems a bit weaker than the Radium, but it`s a much larger and more uniform shape to work with.

 

I see no real reason it shouldn`t work, but eitherway, I`ll put the picture up in here, it should be interesting

 

hehehe I`m just thinking of Post #12 here: http://www.scienceforums.net/forum/showthread.php?t=29171

[YT2095]

as promised, 2 weeks later here is the x-ray of 2 sewing needles:

 

 

it`s not a Great picture and looks better in real life, but you may just be able to make out the eye of one of the needles on the right.

you can clearly see the band across the middle where I sellotaped them into place on the isotope.

[John Cuthber]

Have you tried film rather than paper?

Typical film exposures are much less than a second, typical exposures when printing are a few seconds. That might give an increased sensitivity.

[YT2095]

that`s a Fantastic idea actually, I`m pretty sure I can get hold of B&W film sheets also.

I`ll need to do a little research into this to A) find out the feasibility of this (Actual). and B) if I`ll need any more chems in way of Developer or fixer, and C) the times involved for processing this film.

 

although I`m sure a little experimentation with my Pinhole camera will give plenty of data that I`ll not find in any book, that Is afterall how I managed to get a "Feel" for this Paper that I`ve been using.

it will Also allow me to make Positives of these radiographs too!

I don`t know about you, but I`v never seen an X-Ray picture in the Positive.

 

 

my Chem Lecturer seemed quite impressed with the results too, but seemed quite surprised when I told him it was a 1 week exposure time, I had to explain that the rad levels are so low that it needs that time, but if this Film idea works, then I think a 1 day exposure will be more than reasonable.

[John Cuthber]

What you really need is one of these, but the price is horrible.

http://cgi.ebay.com/BioMax-TranScreen-HE-Intensifying-Screen-Kodak_W0QQitemZ330117601773QQihZ014QQcategoryZ97133QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQtrksidZp1638.m118.l1247QQcmdZViewItem

[YT2095]

you`re right! it`s a horrible price

 

I already have plans along these lines however, that involve getting a Dremel and cutting off the screen of a few old (1940`s /50`s) Oscilloscope CRTs and lifting the phosphor off with wide sellotape and making my Own intensifier

 

I`v just bought a pack of 25 5x4" B&W film sheets (not a Bad price at 22 GBP) the ISO is 80 daylight 40 Tungsten so it May not be Much better than my papers, but it IS Ortho chromatic, so I can use my darkroom safe light to see what`s going

 

And I`ll be able to make Positives with it!

[John Cuthber]

Blah Blah toxicity blah blah berylium in old phosphors blah blah safely blah blah accept no responsibillity blah blah.

But that should work.

 

BTW, I don't represent ebay or the seller here but

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/anti-static-Heavy-Duty-Darkroom-film-changing-bag-58X61_W0QQitemZ280192119957QQihZ018QQcategoryZ29993QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

will let you use ordinary film which is fast and cheap.

[YT2095]

ok, well I`v done the trail with the Film as opposed to the Paper, and the results for 2 week exposure are practically Identical.

 

the ASA/ISO is similar for this type of radiation it would seem, HOWEVER! it DOES have to go through a sheet of Acetate 1`st, so maybe next I should try using the Emulsion side (as I did with the paper) and see how that goes?

 

I would post pictures (and will if anyone Really wants to see them) but there really isn`t anything special to show that the 1`st 2 pics don`t show already.

 

John C; thnx for the heads up, I wasn`t aware of the Be compounds, I`ll do that in a secure area if that`s even Remotely likely to be the case, Cheerz