The Atomic Fingerprint

You are a physicist investigating the properties of semiconductors. The electrical properties of one specimen are not quite like the others that you’ve studied. What makes this specimen different? You are a physician treating a patient who, because of a severe calcium deficiency, has been suffering from osteoporosis. Are you on the right track with your treatment? You are an analytical chemist working for a plastics manufacturer. You have been asked by the plant superintendent to determine why some of the plastic coming from the plant has been discolored. You are a curator working with the ancient coin collection in a large museum. A donor has just given the museum a group of 50 gold coins presumably about 1500 years old. Are they genuine? You are a scientist working in the criminology laboratory of a large metropolitan city. A detective brings you a minute sample of paint taken from the clothing of a hit-and-run victim. He has a suspect whose automobile paint seems to match that sample. Can you determine his guilt or innocence? Neutron activation analysis can be used to solve each of these problems and many more.