The Effects of Steel Shielding on Observed Muon Flux

Kurt Huebner (Grosse Pointe South High School), Phillip Popp (The Roeper School)

Mike Niedballa (Warren Collegiate High School)

Dr. Gil Paz (Wayne State University)

The purpose of our research was to determine if sheet metal of widths ranging from 1/16^th of an inch to ¼ of an inch (in 1/16^th of an inch increments) would have a shielding effect in the detection of muon flux. The experiment was performed by using two pair of scintillator paddles with steel plating in between. We found that a quarter inch of steel was effective in reducing the control flux of 479 events/minute/meters² to 466 events/minute/meters². Reducing the shielding yielded diminishing returns, to the point where 1/8^th of an inch plating gave statistically insignificant results. These results suggest that steel is capable of being used as a shield from cosmic ray. This research could be continued by testing a larger variety of steel plating thicknesses, and even testing different metal’s effectiveness in cosmic ray shielding.