Improvements in the two media method for measurements of gamma-ray linear attenuation coefficients

The two media method has been previously presented as a solution to the problem of measuring gamma-ray attenuation coefficients of odd-shaped samples. We propose that air is chosen as one of the two media. We theoretically demonstrate that this choice simplifies the equation used, as well as the laboratory work, and also reduces some of the terms associated with experimental uncertainty. It also solves one problem raised in a previous study: the difficulty in increasing the number of independent repetitions.