Abstract: | The paper is concerned on the calculation of the optimal thickness of measured material from the point of view of measurement error. The minimum relative error of a measurement is determined as a function of the gamma radiaiton linear attenuation coefficient and the thickness of the material used. Various types of fluctuations are considered and attention is paid to the background detected in the same arrangement without measured material. The results are summarized into simple figures. The conclusion is made that the optimal thickness increases with poorer quality of the measuring instrument. |