Use of a GM counter to measure the half-life of Ba-137m generated by using an isotope generator

A Cs-137/Ba-137m isotope generator is used to demonstrate the properties of radioactive decay. In this experiment, we investigate and verify the random behavior of radioactive decay and determine the half-life of a radioactive isotope. The half-life of a radioisotope is measured in this experiment. The purpose of this experiment is to determine the half-life of Ba-137m by using several methods and to determine the percent error for each determination. Ba-137m decays by gamma emission (662 keV) with a half-life of 2.6 minutes to the stable Ba-137 element. During elution, Ba-137m is selectively “milked” from the generator, leaving behind the Cs-137 parent. Each generator is supplied with 250 mL of an eluting solution (0.9% NaCl in 0.04M HCl). A Geiger counter interfaced with a computer is used to acquire and record the activity at set time intervals. The half-life of the radioactive isotope Ba-137m is determined by measuring the activity of a sample as it decays. The half-life of Ba-137m, which has been extracted from the radioisotope Cs-137, is detected by using AktivLab. The theoretical half-life of Ba-137m is approximately 2.56 minutes, and the result from the experiment is 2.6 minutes. In summary, a radioisotope generator containing Cs-137 produces Ba-137m, which is extracted in a solution. The Ba-137m has a half-life of about 2.6 minutes as measured during this research.