Radiation Shielding

How much lead stops a gamma ray? Not a hard wall but an exponential fade — see how thickness and material set what gets through.

Radiation ShieldingLive

attenuation & half-value layer

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Thickness (mm)

Gamma rays are not stopped abruptly — they are attenuated exponentially, I = I₀·e^(−μx). The half-value layer is the thickness that cuts intensity in half, and it takes about ten of them to reach 0.1%. Dense, high-atomic-number materials like lead have the largest μ, which is why they make the most compact shields.

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Data Inspector

Transmitted3.37%

Half-value layer6.1 mm

Tenth-value layer20.4 mm

Governing equation

I = I_{0} e^{- μx} = I_{0} e^{- 0.113 \cdot 30} = 3.4% I_{0}, HVL = \frac{ln 2}{μ} = 6.1 mm

Reading this result: Lead cuts the beam to 3.4%; you are past one half-value layer (6.1 mm).

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How it works

Gamma radiation is attenuated exponentially through matter, I = I₀·e^(−μx). The half-value layer is the thickness that halves intensity, and about ten of them reduce it to a thousandth. Dense, high-atomic-number materials like lead have the largest attenuation coefficient, making them the most compact shields. A conceptual tool, not a radiation-protection design.

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Is this radiation shielding half-value layer tool really free?▾

Yes. Radiation Shielding runs entirely in your browser using your device's own compute, so local use is free forever. You only pay Compute Tokens if you scale a job to the cloud.

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The solver uses established numerical methods, but results are for research and educational purposes and should be validated against experiment or professional review before you rely on them.