A METHOD OF DETERMINING BERYLLIUM IN ORES BY PHOTONEUTRONS

Neutron radiation, produced by bombarding berylliumbearing material with gamma rays of sufficient energy, was used for bombarding ihe target. A comparison of the radioactivity of a standard with that of a sample introduced in the target makes it possible to calculate the concentration of Be in the sample. A vial containing 48.5 mg of Ra-equivalent serves as the gamma source. Silver is used for the target. Experimental studies have shown that for a given strength of gamma radiation the introduced radioactivity, within sufficiently wide limits, is propertional to the concentration of Be. For Be concentrations of 0.1%, the error of measurement amounts to several times 10%. For concentrations of 0.5%, the error is down to 10%. For large concentrations the error is lowered in proportion io ihe square root of the concentration.