=247. Heating effects of the β and= γ =rays=. It has been shown in
section 114 that the kinetic energy of the β particles emitted from
radium is probably not greater than one per cent. of that due to the α
particles. If the heat emission is a result of bombardment by the
particles expelled from its mass, it is to be expected that the heating
effect of the β rays will be very small compared with that due to the α
rays. This anticipation is borne out by experiment. Curie measured the
heating effect of radium (1) when enclosed in a thin envelope, and (2)
when surrounded by one millimetre of lead. In the former case a large
proportion of the β rays escaped, and, in the latter, nearly all were
absorbed. The increase of heating effect in case (2) was not more than
five per cent., and this is probably an over-estimate.
In a similar way, since the total ionization due to the β rays is about
equal to that produced by the γ rays, we should expect that the heating
effect of the γ rays will be very small compared with that arising from
the α rays.
Paschen made some experiments on the heating effect of radium in a
Bunsen ice calorimeter where the radium was surrounded by a thickness of
1·92 cms. of lead—a depth sufficient to absorb a large proportion of the
γ rays. In his first publication[330], results were given which
indicated that the heating effect of the γ rays was even greater than
that of the α rays. This was not confirmed by later observations by the
same method. He concluded that the ice calorimeter could not be relied
on to measure such very small quantities of heat.
After the publication of Paschen’s first paper Rutherford and
Barnes[331] examined the question by a different method. An air
calorimeter of the form shown in Fig. 98 was employed which was found to
give very satisfactory results. The heat emission of radium was measured
(1) when the radium was surrounded by a cylinder of aluminium and (2)
when surrounded by a cylinder of lead of the same dimensions. The
aluminium absorbed only a small fraction of the γ rays while the lead
stopped more than half. No certain difference between the heating effect
in the two cases was observed, although from the earlier experiments of
Paschen a difference of at least 50 per cent. was to be expected.
We must therefore conclude that the β and γ rays together do not supply
more than a small percentage of the total heat emission of radium—a
result which is in accordance with the calculations based on the total
ionization produced by the different types of rays.
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