(NOTE.—Let the radio-active substance be placed on one of the plates of
a condenser, this plate being connected to earth; the second plate is
connected to an electrometer, it receives and absorbs the rays emitted
by the substance. If the rays are charged, a continuous flow of
electricity into the electrometer should be observed. In this
experiment, carried out in air, we were not able to detect a charge
accompanying the rays, but such an experiment is not delicate. The air
between the plates being caused by the rays to conduct, the electrometer
is no longer isolated, and can only respond to charges if these be
sufficiently strong. In order that the α-rays may not interfere with the
experiment, they may be suppressed by covering the source of radiation
with a thin metallic screen. We repeated this experiment, without more
success, by causing the rays to pass through the interior of a Faraday
cylinder in connection with the electrometer).
According to the preceding experiments, it was evident that the charge
of the rays of the radiating body employed was a weak one.
In order to fix a feeble evolution of electricity upon the conductor
which absorbs the rays, this conductor should be completely insulated;
this is effected by screening it from the air, either by placing it in a
tube with a very perfect vacuum, or by surrounding it with a good solid
dielectric. We employed the latter arrangement.
[Illustration: FIG. 6.]
A conducting disc, M M (Fig. 6), is connected by the wire, _t_, to the
electrometer; the disc and wire are completely enveloped by the
insulating substance _i i i i_; the whole is again surrounded with the
metallic covering, E E E E, which is in electric connection with the
earth. The insulator, _p p_, and the metallic envelope are very thin
upon one of the faces of the disc. This face is exposed to the radiation
of the barium and radium salt, R, placed outside in a lead receptacle.
The rays emitted by the radium penetrate the metallic envelope and the
insulating lamina, _p p_, and are absorbed by the metallic disc, M M.
The latter then becomes the source of a continuous evolution of negative
electricity, as determined by the electrometer, and is measured by means
of a quartz piezometer.
The current thus created is very weak. With very active barium-radium
chloride, forming a layer of 2·5 sq. c.m. in area, and of 0·2 c.m. in
thickness, a current of magnitude 10^{–11} ampères is obtained, the rays
utilised having traversed, before being absorbed by the disc M M, a
thickness of aluminium of 0·01 m.m., and a thickness of ebonite of 0·3
m.m.
We used successively lead, copper, and zinc for the disc M M, ebonite
and paraffin for the insulator; the results obtained were the same.
The current diminishes with increasing distance from the source of
radiation, R, also when a less active product is used.
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