discharge passes through it. The α rays correspond to the canal rays, discovered by Goldstein, which have been shown by Wien to consist of positively charged bodies projected with great velocity (see section 51). The β rays are the same as the cathode rays, while the γ rays resemble the Röntgen rays. In a vacuum tube, a large amount of electric energy is expended in producing the rays, but, in the radio-active bodies, the rays are emitted spontaneously, and at a rate uninfluenced by any chemical or physical agency. The α and β rays from the active bodies are projected with much greater velocity than the corresponding rays in a vacuum tube, while the γ rays are of much greater penetrating power than Röntgen rays.
The effect of a magnetic field on a pencil of rays from a radio-active substance giving out the three kinds of rays is very well illustrated in Fig. 22[1].
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Fig. 22.
Some radium is placed in the bottom of a narrow cylindrical lead vessel R. A narrow pencil of rays consisting of α, β, and γ rays escapes from the opening. If a strong uniform magnetic field is applied at right angles to the plane of the paper, and directed towards the paper, the three types of rays are separated from one another. The γ rays continue in a straight line without any deviation. The β rays are deflected to the right, describing circular orbits the radii of which vary within wide limits. If the photographic plate AC is placed under the radium vessel, the β rays produce a diffuse photographic impression on the right of the vessel R. The α rays are bent in the direction opposite to that of the β rays, and describe a portion of the arc of a circle of large radius, but they are rapidly absorbed after traversing a distance of a few centimetres from the vessel R. The amount
- ↑ This method of illustration is due to Mme Curie, Thèse présentée à la Faculté des Sciences de Paris, 1903.
