The element is americium-241.

Gary

On 9/2/2010 9:22 AM, David D. Hillman wrote:
> Hi folks - I am heading for Wisconsin for a weekend of whitewater kayaking
> so here is the Friday Quiz early - it will also give folks in other time
> zones more opportunity to participate as I'll post the question on Tuesday
> (Monday is a holiday here in the US).
>
> 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 winner of this week's quiz will get to have Clumpy, the 8th dwarf,
> work for them for a week.
>
> So far Clumpy has:
>
> Week 1 - accomplished nothing
> Week 2 - conducted REACH material testing
> Week 3 - Solderability testing
>
> Good Luck.
>
> Dave Hillman
> Rockwell Collins
> [log in to unmask]
>
> ______________________________________________________________________
> This email has been scanned by the MessageLabs Email Security System.
> For more information please contact helpdesk at x2960 or [log in to unmask]
> ______________________________________________________________________
>
> ---------------------------------------------------
> Technet Mail List provided as a service by IPC using LISTSERV 15.0
> To unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following text in
> the BODY (NOT the subject field): SIGNOFF Technet
> To temporarily halt or (re-start) delivery of Technet send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet NOMAIL or (MAIL)
> To receive ONE mailing per day of all the posts: send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet Digest
> Search the archives of previous posts at: http://listserv.ipc.org/archives
> Please visit IPC web site http://www.ipc.org/contentpage.asp?Pageid=4.3.16 for additional information, or contact Keach Sasamori at [log in to unmask] or 847-615-7100 ext.2815
> -----------------------------------------------------
>

______________________________________________________________________
This email has been scanned by the MessageLabs Email Security System.
For more information please contact helpdesk at x2960 or [log in to unmask] 
______________________________________________________________________

---------------------------------------------------
Technet Mail List provided as a service by IPC using LISTSERV 15.0
To unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following text in
the BODY (NOT the subject field): SIGNOFF Technet
To temporarily halt or (re-start) delivery of Technet send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet NOMAIL or (MAIL)
To receive ONE mailing per day of all the posts: send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet Digest
Search the archives of previous posts at: http://listserv.ipc.org/archives
Please visit IPC web site http://www.ipc.org/contentpage.asp?Pageid=4.3.16 for additional information, or contact Keach Sasamori at [log in to unmask] or 847-615-7100 ext.2815
-----------------------------------------------------