IGCSE Physics / Atoms and radioactivity
Detecting radiation and background radiation revision notes
Edexcel International GCSE Physics (4PH1), chapter 22: Atoms and radioactivity, specification point 7.9, 7.10. Part of the full course.
Watch the video lesson · IGCSE Physics past papers
Radiation is detected using photographic film or a Geiger-Müller tube. Background radiation is always present, so you subtract its count from a measurement to find the count from a radioactive source alone.