A scintillator detector registers background counts (cosmic-ray muons and radioactive…
PHYSICS · Multi-part · Fermi University Physics · Scientific Practice & Experimental Methods · Mathematical Methods for Physics · Uncertainty in measurement
Mathematical Methods for Physics, Ch Probability, random variables and distributions
Problem
A scintillator detector registers background counts (cosmic-ray muons and radioactive background) at a steady average rate of 0.50s−1, each count arriving independently of any other.
((a)) State which of the binomial, Poisson, exponential or Gaussian distributions correctly models the number of counts recorded in a fixed time interval, and justify the choice by naming the mechanism at work.
((b)) For a 4.0s interval, find the probability of recording exactly two counts.