[Edited on 23-5-2011 by LanthanumK]White Yeti - 1-8-2011 at 05:25
Yes.
Radon: An air sample from my basement, contains 6ppm Rn gas Mixell - 1-8-2011 at 05:54
Lutetium is also used as a phosphor in some LED light bulbs, although its extremely hard to separate it from other rare earth elements.
Thallium: thallium oxide used in some high index refraction glass, thallium halogens (especially bromide and iodide) are used in infrared optical
devices. Thallium sulfide is used in photo-resistors and thallium-mercury alloy (8-9% thallium) is used in low temperature thermometers.
Thulium- Thulium-chromium-holmium alloy is used in some lasers, especially those used in surgery. Also, it is used in some portable X-ray devices.
Basically all of the above mentioned elements are hard to get, unless you stumble upon some broken parts of the above mentioned devices. Mr. Wizard - 1-8-2011 at 06:53
Radon: An air sample from my basement, contains 6ppm Rn gas
That does seem rather high. Do you live over a Uranium mine?
From Wijki:
The average concentration of radon in the atmosphere is about 6×10−20 atoms of radon for each molecule in the air, or about 150 atoms in each
ml of air.
Your concentration is 6x10-6 or about 10^14 higher than normal.
Maybe I don't understand?
What is the radiation level in Bq/m^3 (Becquerels / cubic meter) or picocuries per liter ( pC/L)blogfast25 - 2-8-2011 at 08:15
That does seem rather high. Do you live over a Uranium mine?
Perhaps "White Yeti" refers to his glowing in the dark? White Yeti - 2-8-2011 at 14:20
Just a joke.
Lighten up guys. I don't know if I have radon in my basement, although I know some of my neighbours have radioactive basements.
In any case, you can't collect and store radon, it has a half life of a few days. The best you can do is find some uranium ore, or yellowcake and put
it into a vial. if you've gone through all that trouble, you might be the proud owner of a few atoms of radon. I, personally, wouldn't bother. I'd
rather take the air in my basement, put it into a glass vial, and say it contains traces of radon.Mister Junk Pile - 2-8-2011 at 19:42
But, as you said, it wouldn't contain traces of radon for long. If you kept 1 mL of air in a vial and it contained about 7x the average amount (1000
atoms per mL...) it would be all gone in about 5 weeks. It would be better to just keep a beaker sitting there open to the air. That way it would
always contain at least one radon atom.
