produced will depend in general upon the nature and pressure of the gas. In the electric field the positive ions travel towards the negative plate, and the negative ions towards the positive, and consequently a current will pass through the gas. Some of the ions will also recombine, the rate of recombination being proportional to the square of the number present. For a given intensity of radiation, the current passing through the gas will increase at first with the potential difference between the plates, but it will reach a limit when all the ions are removed by the electric field before any recombination occurs.
This theory accounts also for all the characteristic properties of gases made conducting by the rays from active substances, though there are certain differences observed between the conductivity phenomena produced by active substances and by X rays. These differences are for the most part the result of unequal absorption of the two types of rays. Unlike Röntgen rays, a large proportion of the radiation from active bodies consists of rays which are absorbed in their passage through a few centimetres of air. The ionization of the gas is thus not uniform, but falls off rapidly with increase of distance from the active substance.
26. Variation of the current with voltage. Suppose that
a layer of radio-active matter is spread uniformly on the lower of
two horizontal plates A and B (Fig. 1). The lower plate A is
connected with one pole of a battery of cells the other pole of which
is connected with earth. The plate B is connected with one pair of
quadrants of an electrometer, the other pair being connected with
earth.
The current[1] between the plates, determined by the rate of movement of the electrometer needle, is observed at first to increase rapidly with the voltage, then more slowly, finally reaching a value which increases very slightly with a large increase in the voltage. This, as we have indicated, is simply explained on the ionization theory.
The radiation produces ions at a constant rate, and, before the electric field is applied, the number per unit volume increases
- ↑ A minute current is observed between the plates even if no radio-active matter be present. This has been found to be due mainly to a slight natural radio-activity of the matter composing them. (See chapter XIV.)
