I wrote: On Wed, Dec 4, 2013 at 11:36 AM, <[email protected]> wrote: > > Surely that depends on the distribution of the radioisotope within the >> metal? >> Since you created this hypothetical substance, it's up to you to say >> whether or >> not that's the case. ;) >> > > No doubt. :) But for my hypothetical substance, I will choose a > realistic substance -- an ampule of ordinary cesium (pure but not enriched > in any way). How do we know that any of the gammas emitted by an ampule > originate from within the bulk of the cesium rather than being limited to > the surface? >
It occurs to me that earlier I had hypothesized a pure gamma emitter (such a thing may not exist, and even if any do, there may be no metals among them). But I think my first question about what we know about the region where the gammas are emitted (whether we can say for sure that some of them come from the bulk) is still relevant to the ampule of cesium. Eric
