The Effect Of Sand On Muon Flux

The Effect Of Sand On Muon Flux

Kaitlyn Proffitt (Eisenhower High School/Utica Center for Mathematics, Science, and Technology), Khaliah Spoljaric (Robichaud High School)

Mike Niedballa (Wayne State)

Rob Harr (Wayne State)

The purpose of our research was to study the effect of different heights of sand on muon flux. We aimed to simulate the behavior of muons once they traveled below ground level. We started the study with four muon detector paddles. We placed paddles 1 and 2 stacked on top of each other on the top shelf of a 1.180 meter tall shelving unit. Paddles 3 and 4 were also stacked on top of each other and were placed on the ground directly beneath the first two paddles under the shelving unit. We ran seven trials, one trial without any sand bags between the muon paddles and six trials adding an additional bag of sand each time. The height of each bag of sand was an average of 0.100m. Flux was recorded at ten minute intervals. The trials would run for time periods varying in length from six hours to sixty-five hours, due to time constraints. For each trial, we ran a flux study, each with a coincidence level of four. Our data showed a negatively linear relationship between muon flux and height of sand with a line of best fit of y = -44.685x +199.9, showing that an increased height of sand does decrease muon flux. If our projection is correct, there would be no muon flux at a depth of approximately 4.5 meters below the surface. If sensitive scientific research or medical needs required an area free of cosmic radiation, creating a lab or office below this depth could be a solution, effectively shielding against muons. Further data collection would yield more accurate results.