Educating the Public About Radiation Using Inexpensive, Easy to Make Scintillator Detectors

Abstract

Cosmic background radiation constitutes a considerable percentage of the average person's natural radiation dose. We have built two identical scintillator detectors that can detect cosmic muons, with the aim of using these detectors to educate members of the public about radiation. Our detectors can communicate these muon events in real-time, giving the public audience a sense of how much radiation passes through their body constantly.