Characterization of wood based on mass-absorbtion coefficient of gamma radiation / Hazlini Abd Hadi

Malaysia has many types of commercial value wood. However, the types of woods cannot be known specifically after the woods have been cut and sewn into pieces or sewn timber. Since woods have special absorption properties of gamma ray, this study was designed to determine the coefficient of absorption such that the types^of wood could be identified easily. This is due to the fact that the different kind of wood has different absorption coefficient for gamma rays. The gamma ray can be measured by using GM Tube and digital counter. In this experiment direct radiation and the residue radiation after absorbed by wood was measured. The experimental setup were verified by using polyethylene and lead to determine their respective absorption coefficient. Result showed that the experimental value is in good agreement with standard values. For the absorption study on various types of woods, it was found that there is a simple linear correlation between the absorption coefficient and density of the wood sample.