Dresden 2013 – scientific programme

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T: Fachverband Teilchenphysik

T 75: Detektoren und Detektorsysteme 3

T 75.6: Talk

Thursday, March 7, 2013, 18:00–18:15, GER-052

Germanium detectors and natural radioactivity in food — •Lucia Garbini — Max-Planck-Institute for Physics, Munich, Germany

Potassium is a very important mineral for many physiological processes, like fluid balance, protein synthesis and signal transmission in nerves. Many aliments like raisins, bananas or chocolate contain potassium. Natural potassium contains 0.012% of the radioactive isotope Potassium 40. This isotope decays via β⁺ decay into a metastable state of Argon 40, which reaches its ground state emitting a gamma of 1460 keV. A commercially produced Germanium detector has been used to measure the energy spectra of different selected food samples. It was calibrated with KCl and potassium contents were extracted. Results verify the high potassium content of commonly recommended food samples. However, the measurement quantitatively differ from the expectations in several cases. One of the most interesting results concerns chocolate bars with different percentages of cacao.