Unless you live in Minnesota, you do not quickly know the answer to "how to drive a John Deere across the ocean". It's simple, you wait until January and take a somewhat northerly route. With the three-point snow blower attachment, there is nowhere you can't go with a Deere.

-----Original Message-----
From: TechNet [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of David D. Hillman
Sent: Tuesday, September 07, 2010 8:56 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [TN] NTC Friday Element Quiz On Thursday - the Answer

The Question: 

I am an element that was first produced in the 1940's. This element decays 

by both alpha and gamma which poses serious safety issues when handling 
large quantities. However, this element is considered an inexpensive 
radiation source for portable gamma radiography of welds and as a 
thickness gauge in the manufacture of glass. The alpha radiation 
characteristics provide an ionization source for smoke detectors. A 
typical household smoke detector contains 200 ug of this element. What 
element am I?


The Answer:

The element is Americium (Am). The US Government nuclear fuel reprocessors 
sell AmO2 to licensed commercial users at $1500 per gram. In a smoke 
detector, the AmO2 alpha particles ionize the air in the detector, 
allowing a continuous current flow through the detection chamber. Smoke 
particles entering the space between the chamber's electrodes absorb much 
of the alpha radiation reducing the ionization of the air thus changing 
the current flow causing the alarm to trigger. The radiation dose to users 
of AmO2 smoke detectors is near zero because the detector case absorbs the 
alpha rays and the gamma ray intensity is quite low.

The winner of the quiz was Bev Christian of RIM. However, the Friday 
Element Rules Committee does not allow Clumpy to visit the same company 
more than once (sorry Bev, you'll need to file a 2345678B form with the 
committee for an appeal) so Clumpy is now headed to visit Ian Fox, 
Goodrich, for his next weekly assignment. How the heck he is driving the 
mower over the Atlantic ocean is beyond me. 

Clumpy's task accomplishments:

Week 1 - accomplished nothing
Week 2 - conducted REACH material testing
Week 3 - Solderability testing


Dave Hillman
Rockwell Collins
[log in to unmask]

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