This Gist holds a Python script that was used in computing the Mass Attenuation Coefficient of samples used for my final year project work.

script.py

import statistics as stat
import math


def computeIntensity(list):
    readings = [x * 1000 for x in list]
    intensity = stat.mean(readings) - bg_intensity
    return intensity


def computeMac(intensity, thickness, density):
    mass_thickness = density * thickness
    ln_of_intensities = math.log(intensity / incident_intensity)
    mac = -(ln_of_intensities / mass_thickness)
    return mac


bg_readings = [6, 12, 17, 15, 12, 6, 17, 7, 7, 11]
bg_intensity = stat.mean(bg_readings)

incident_intensity = computeIntensity(
    [
        20.40,
        23.01,
        22.58,
        22.68,
        22.96,
        22.58,
        23.07,
        22.67,
        22.23,
        20.58,
    ]
)

asbestos_intensity_ta = computeIntensity(
    [13.97, 13.10, 14.23, 14.32, 13.07, 14.56, 14.43, 14.17, 14.45, 14.12]
)
asbestos_mac_ta = computeMac(asbestos_intensity_ta, 0.328, 1.72)
print("mac asbestos ta = " + str(asbestos_mac_ta))

asbestos_intensity_m3 = computeIntensity(
    [
        14.25,
        13.95,
        14.59,
        12.39,
        14.35,
        14.56,
        14.64,
        14.74,
        14.57,
        14.44,
    ]
)
asbestos_mac_m3 = computeMac(asbestos_intensity_m3, 0.407, 1.56)
print("mac asbestos m3 = " + str(asbestos_mac_m3))

pipe_intensity_ta = computeIntensity(
    [
        12.93,
        13.36,
        13.38,
        13.19,
        13.36,
        13.63,
        12.87,
        13.43,
        13.40,
        13.45,
    ]
)
pipe_mac_ta = computeMac(pipe_intensity_ta, 0.0800, 1.10)
print("mac pipe ta = " + str(pipe_mac_ta))


pipe_intensity_m3 = computeIntensity(
    [
        11.18,
        11.14,
        11.46,
        11.35,
        11.22,
        11.23,
        11.52,
        11.27,
        11.36,
        11.08,
    ]
)
pipe_mac_m3 = computeMac(pipe_intensity_m3, 0.0770, 1.47)
print("mac pipe m3 = " + str(pipe_mac_m3))


cement_intensity_ta = computeIntensity(
    [
        5.126,
        5.192,
        5.261,
        5.060,
        5.151,
        5.065,
        5.222,
        5.120,
        5.021,
        4.887,
    ]
)
cement_mac_ta = computeMac(cement_intensity_ta, 1.5, 2.34)
print("mac cement ta = " + str(cement_mac_ta))

cement_intensity_m3 = computeIntensity(
    [
        5.259,
        5.057,
        5.352,
        5.366,
        5.068,
        5.101,
        5.263,
        4.872,
        5.135,
        5.338,
    ]
)
cement_mac_m3 = computeMac(cement_intensity_m3, 1.7, 3.23)
print("mac cement m3 = " + str(cement_mac_m3))