A sample shows a count rate of 36,000 cpm during a 3-minute counting period.Express this as the count rate ± standard deviation.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Counting statistics, meaning the number of counts expected from a sample, follow the Poisson distribution.In the Poisson distribution, the standard deviation (F1F1F1S1F1F1F10_C) for any number of counts (C) is fixed at the square root of C: 11ea6816_3f27_97db_b611_8508dbadacee_TB6242_11 This fixed definition of standard deviation does not exist in Gaussian distributions; essentially only counting statistics are Poisson.In this problem, cpm must be calculated first.

A Sample Shows a Count Rate of 36,000 Cpm During