Date of Award
6-2011
Document Type
Open Access
Degree Name
Bachelor of Science
Department
Physics and Astronomy
First Advisor
Michael Vineyard
Language
English
Keywords
aerosols, analysis, elemental, collected, matter
Abstract
A comparative study of atmospheric aerosols was performed on samples collected in Schenectady, NY using Particle Induced X-ray Emission (PIXE) spectroscopy. PIXE is an elemental analysis technique used to measure the elemental concentration of a sample. This is part of a systematic study to identify the sources and understand the transport, transformation, and e˙ects of airborne pollutants and the connection between aerosols, the deposition of pollution, and the uptake of pollutants by wildlife and vegetation. The atmo-spheric aerosols were collected with a nine-stage cascade impactor that allows for the analysis of the particulate matter as a function of particle size. The samples were bombarded with 2-MeV proton beams from the Union College Pelletron Accelerator and the energy spectra of the X-rays were measured with a silicon drift detector. The X-ray spectra were analyzed using GUPIX software to extract the elemental concentrations of the particulate matter. The sample collection and analysis are described, and results are presented.
Recommended Citation
Gleason, Colin L., "Comparative Study of Aerosols Using Particle Induced X-Ray Emission" (2011). Honors Theses. 983.
https://digitalworks.union.edu/theses/983