Molar extinction coefficients of some fatty acids

Abstract The attenuation of gamma rays in some fatty acids, viz. formic acid (CH 2 O 2 ), acetic acid (C 2 H 4 O 2 ), propionic acid (C 3 H 6 O 2 ), butyric acid (C 4 H 8 O 2 ), n -hexanoic acid (C 6 H 12 O 2 ), n -caprylic acid (C 8 H 16 O 2 ), lauric acid (C 12 H 24 O 2 ), myristic acid (C 14 H 28 O 2 ), palmitic acid (C 16 H 32 O 2 ), oleic acid (C 18 H 34 O 2 ) and stearic acid (C 18 H 36 O 2 ), has been measured at the photon energies 81, 356, 511, 662, 1173 and 1332 keV. Experimental values for the molar extinction coefficient, the effective atomic number and the electron density have been derived and compared with theoretical calculations. There is good agreement between experiment and theory.