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[1], 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[2] 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.
