RadSim: a program to simulate individual particle interactions for educational purposes.
A program was developed, RadSim, which can be used to simulate certain individual interactions of photons, electrons, positrons and alpha particles with a single atom for educational purposes. The program can be run in two modes: manual and simulated. In the manual mode, an individual particle undergoing a specified interaction with a target atom can be simulated, which essentially comes down to a graphical evaluation of kinematic equations. In the simulated mode, a preset number of identical particles are allowed to undergo a specified interaction type with a target atom. The exit channel of the interaction is sampled from probability distributions using Monte Carlo methods. The incoming and outgoing particles are visualized and the frequency distribution of the kinematic variables of the exit channel is displayed graphically. It has to be emphasized that RadSim was mainly developed for educational purposes.
Verhaegen
Frank
F
Medical Physics Department, McGill University, Montreal General Hospital, 1650 Cedar Avenue, Montreal, Québec H3G 1A4, Canada. fverhaegen@medphys.mcgill.ca
Palefsky
Steven
S
DeBlois
François
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D003198:Computer Simulation; D003194:Computer-Assisted Instruction / Q000379:methods*; D006283:Health Physics / Q000193:education*; D018499:Linear Energy Transfer; D008956:Models, Chemical; D009686:Nuclear Physics / Q000193:education*; D012984:Software; D014584:User-Computer Interface