I found that the radiation of polonium had preserved its essential characteristics, and I discovered new results. The following, for different values of the distance a t, are the fractions of the radiation transmitted by a screen composed of four superposed very thin leaves of beaten aluminium.
Distance a t, in centimetres.........01·52·6
Percentage of rays transmitted by the screen766639
I also found that the fraction of the radiation absorbed by a given screen increases with the thickness of the material already traversed by the radiation, but this only occurs after the distance a t has reached a certain value. When this distance is zero (the polonium being in contact with the sheet, either outside or inside the condenser), it is observed that with several similar superposed screens, each absorbs the same fraction of the radiation it receives; otherwise expressed, the intensity of the radiation diminishes therefore according to an exponential law as a function of the thickness of the material traversed, as in the case of homogeneous radiation transmitted by the lamina without changing its nature.
The following numerical results are given with reference to these experiments:—
For a distance a t equal to 1·5 c.m. a thin aluminium screen transmits the fraction 0·51 of the radiation it receives when acting alone, and the fraction 0·34 of the radiation it receives when it is preceded by another similar screen.
On the contrary, for a distance a t equal to zero, the same screen transmits in both the cases considered the same fraction of the radiation it receives, and this fraction is equal to 0·71; it is therefore greater than in the preceding case.
The following numbers indicate for a distance a t equal to 0 and for a succession of thin superposed screens, the ratio of the radiation transmitted to the radiation received for each screen:—
| Series of nine very thin copper leaves. |
Series of seven very thin aluminium leaves. |
| 0·72 | 0·69 |
| 0·78 | 0·94 |
| 0·75 | 0·95 |
| 0·77 | 0·91 |
| 0·70 | 0·92 |
| 0·77 | 0·93 |
| 0·69 | 0·91 |
| 0·79 | |
| 0·68 |
