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To: KarlInOhio

I think I understand what you’re trying to demonstrate. Yes, the math is academic.

However, if Potassium-40 is 0.012% of ‘naturally-occurring potassium’ - and only Potassium-40 is radioactive - then the 0.0000071 figure is nonsensical, suggesting that ALL natural potassium is radioactive.

The conclusion I came to is that an intern building the fact sheet made a boneheaded math error and represented the total possible radioactivity for 100% of naturally-occurring potassium, rather than the 0.012% figure, which in reality only represents the elemental breakdown, not the percentage of radioactivity.

Either I found an error, or the facts are escaping me still and I’m stuck in a boneheaded brainfart.

This is why I asked for help: I need other source(s) for data for which I’ve been unsuccessful or validation of my conclusion, that the 818 pCi/g figure is correct and that ANL, frankly, goofed.

In fact, the National Research Council source predates the ANL fact sheet by 6 years, published 1999....

https://books.google.com/books?id=xkRCx8DROokC&pg=PA48&lpg=PA48&dq=epa+potassium+40+specific+activity&source=bl&ots=B6MNgjYU3o&sig=ZmRgjfRPXmZhWw6uQsy6lzjh3mE&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjA2qbxg6_RAhVHllQKHTEHDLcQ6AEITjAJ#v=onepage&q=epa%20potassium%2040%20specific%20activity&f=false

...which just happens to state it matter-of-factly as such:
Potassium-40 is present at 0.0117% by mass in natural potassium, thereby imparting a specific activity of about 30 kBq/kb (800 pCi/g) of potassium.

I can accept a discrepancy of 0.0117% vs. 0.012%, but not 0.0000017 vs. 0.000000000818...


20 posted on 01/07/2017 9:10:59 AM PST by logi_cal869 (-cynicus-)
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To: logi_cal869
If you have a chunk of potassium from a natural source it will be radioactive. Why? Because a small fraction of that natural potassium is potassium-40. The discrepancy between radiation per gram is like measuring the car exhaust from a parking lot of 8000 cars of which only one is running. Do you report the exhaust per car (the 0.000000000818 figure for potassium) or the exhaust per running car (the 0.0000017 figure from ANL for potassium-40).

Both figures are right, but they describe different situations.

22 posted on 01/07/2017 9:35:33 AM PST by KarlInOhio (a government contract becomes virtually a substitute for intellectual curiosity - Pres. Eisenhower)
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