You are shown two nice, identical-looking pieces of clothing. You are told that one is made of cotton and the other of polyester (a textile derived...

You are shown two nice, identical-looking pieces of clothing. You are told that one is made of cotton and the other of polyester (a textile derived from petroleum). You want to determine which is which but you are not allowed to touch them. But you have your Geiger counter at hand which you always carry around with you. How can you use that to find out the answer? Explain in details what you would do & what the reasoning is behind your idea.

My Answer:

Geiger counter is an instrument used to detect radiation. Note that plants and animals have very little amount of radioactive 14C which decays into 12C. This is replenished from the environment continuously due by processes like food intake. Once they die, the 14C concentration decreases in their dead bodies due to its decay to 12C. In fossil derived products like polyester, the 14C concentration is far less than that of cotton which is clearly not thousands of years old like petrol.

Hence, the Geiger counter beeps more when taken near cotton (as it has more 14C).

Question:

Can you check if the solution is correct please?