About how big is a gamma ray? or wave?

Ok, let's say I have two detectors placed 5 feet apart.
If a gamma event comes through, will the both see it?

If not, how about a foot apart? an inch apart? on top of each other?

What is the detecting range of one of these?
If the size of the gamma varies, what is about the 'average' size.
Does the detector just count events or does the strength of the event play into it as well?

Just curious.

Thank you
Aaron
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They can be any size, like a flood light or a laser.

Gamma ray are powerful to they can detected over long distances, you need 6cm of concrete to lower the intensity by half.

The Sv is in J/Kg so this takes in to account the number of events and strength.

There was a discussion about placement here:

http://radioactiveathome.org/boinc/forum_thread.php?id=24
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I understand the distance, and the concrete slowing down aspect but, as far as our detectors detecting them is what I am asking.

If I put both of my detectors essentially right next to each other, I should pretty much see the same readings at the same time for both of them right?

Unless im using a small source of gamma, like a smoke detector for example, where you would have to literally be right on the thing just about, if I kept them right next to each other, they should pretty much read the same with the background radiation right?

Is it, the one wave would hit both of them and trigger or is it more like rain where the room may get an inch of rain, but each detector is getting it's inch from seperate drops?

Aaron
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I think if you put them next to each other then they'll read the same. Like when you look in the sky on a clear day it's just blue everywhere.

When the gamma ray hits the molecules in the tube then it loses some or all of it's energy, so I think it would be hard and un-likly to get to the next detector.

So I think it's more like rain.

Having 2 next to each other is good as it helps to demostrate the hardware is working correctly and reliably.

Im not sure it loses that much energy when it hits a detector. I mean if it can go through several feet of concrete I hardly think a detector is really going to slow it down significantly. If they did then we would just have to make bomb shelters out of about 1/4 inch of detector material and we'd all be safe right?

Aaron
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You could detect the same gamma ray twice as you say ther certinally have enough engery.

When it collides with the first atom the new gamma ray would be emitted at a different angle to the old one, so it would be tough to line up the detectors so you could catch the 2.