fairfolio
Saved Projects

Best Shields against Electromagnetic Radiation

CSEF · 2012 Materials Science (Junior Division Only)

Christopher E. Chan · South Pasadena Middle School, South Pasadena, Los Angeles County

Overview

Objectives/Goals The objective of this experiment is to measure how different objects shield against electromagnetic radiation emitted by cell phone towers, high tension wires, electrical poles, and radio towers. Methods/Materials Five walls of the same size and shape were constructed from Douglas Fir wood, each insulated with different materials to comply with the Los Angeles 1-2 Family Residential Building Code and materials that could block radiation. A High Frequency Electromagnetic Field (EMF) meter was used to measure the amount of dBm's (decibels per milliwatt) one inch from the center of the walls. The measurements were repeated five times behind five walls and once without walls at ten and fifty feet from eight poles (two electrical poles, two radio towers, two high tension wires, and two cell phone towers). Results The following poles are listed in order from highest to lowest average amount of electromagnetic radiation that was emitted (in dBm): cell phone towers (-27.35;-28.34), high tension wires (-41.57;-41.16), electrical poles (-49.52;-47.39), and radio towers (-46.72;-46.75). The following walls are listed from average best to worst shield against electromagnetic radiation (in dBm): galvanized sheet metal (-43.28;-43.75), EMF shielding foil (-42.44;-43.74), grounded wire mesh (-42.04;-42.63), aluminum foil (-41.41;-42.12), and standard wall with R13 insulation (-40.68;-42.01). Conclusions/Discussion The galvanized sheet metal was the best shield against electromagnetic radiation. This proves that simple, inexpensive modifications to walls can provide protection to people who are exposed to poles that emit electromagnetic radiation.

Summary statement

Lining standard walls with additional material increases the amount of protection against electromagnetic radiation emitted by eight different poles.

Help received

I appreciate my father's help withsafely constructing the five walls and driving me to the testing sites.

Competition history

  • CSEF 2012 Materials Science (Junior Division Only) · Entry J1304

Resources

Related projects

Closest projects by meaning, across every fair and year in the corpus.

Browse more like this

Source: California Science & Engineering Fair public projects

Save projects to your library

Sign in with Google to keep track of projects you find interesting, organized into folders. An account also raises your daily allowance for “Has this been done?”, and lets you create a key for the MCP server with a much higher limit than anonymous use. Browsing stays public.

Continue with Google