F. Henning[202] examined the electrical resistance of a barium chloride
solution containing radium of activity 1000, but could observe no
appreciable difference between it and a similar pure solution of barium
chloride. This experiment shows that the action of the rays from the
radium does not produce any appreciable change in the conductivity of
the barium solution.
Kohlrausch and Henning[203] have recently made a detailed examination of
the conductivity of pure radium bromide solutions, and have obtained
results very similar to those for the corresponding barium solutions.
Kohlrausch[204] found that the conductivity of water exposed to the
radiations from radium increased more rapidly than water which had not
been exposed. This increase of conductivity may have been due to an
increase of the conductivity of the water itself, or to an increased
rate of solution of the glass of the containing vessel.
Specimens of strongly active material have been employed to obtain the
potential at any point of the atmosphere. The ionization due to the
active substance is so intense that the body to which it is attached
rapidly takes up the potential of the air surrounding the active
substance. In this respect it is more convenient and rapid in its action
than the ordinary taper or water dropper, but on account of the
disturbance of the electric field by the strong ionization produced, it
is probably not so accurate a method as that of the water dropper.
=120. Effect on liquid and solid dielectrics.= P. Curie[205] made the
very important observation that liquid dielectrics became partial
conductors under the influence of radium rays. In these experiments the
radium, contained in a glass tube, was placed in an inner thin cylinder
of copper. This was surrounded by a concentric copper cylinder, and the
liquid to be examined filled the space between. A strong electric field
was applied, and the current through the liquid measured by means of an
electrometer.
The following numbers illustrate the results obtained:
Substance Conductivity in
megohms per 1 cm.³
Carbon bisulphide 20 × 10⁻¹⁴
Petroleum ether 15 „
Amyline 14 „
Carbon chloride 8 „
Benzene 4 „
Liquid air 1·3 „
Vaseline oil 1·6 „
Liquid air, vaseline oil, petroleum ether, amyline, are normally nearly
perfect insulators. The conductivity of amyline and petroleum ether due
to the rays at −17° C. was only ⅒ of its value at 0° C. There is thus
a marked action of temperature on the conductivity. For very active
material the current was proportional to the voltage. With material of
only ¹⁄₅₀₀ of the activity, it was found that Ohm’s law was not obeyed.
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