Open AccessOn the decay of the radium emanation when dissolved in water
Publication year - 1908
Publication title -
proceedings of the royal society of london. series a, containing papers of a mathematical and physical character
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2053-9150
pISSN - 0950-1207
DOI - 10.1098/rspa.1908.0055
Subject(s) - radium , dissolution , copper , chemistry , helium , degradation (telecommunications) , particle (ecology) , molecule , atom (system on chip) , inorganic chemistry , radiochemistry , geology , organic chemistry , engineering , telecommunications , oceanography , embedded system
The results obtained by Ramsay and Cameron on dissolving radium emanation in water and in copper sulphate solution have made it advisable to investigate the behaviour of the emanation, when dissolved in such solvents, from a radio-active standpoint. There are two possible explanations for the results obtained by these authors:— (1) The one advanced by them to the effect that theα -particle is not identical with the helium atom, but that the “degradation” of the large molecule of the emanation is effected by bombardment withα -particles, the products of the degradation varying according to whether, on the one hand, the emanation is alone or mixed with other gases, or, on the other, whether it is dissolved in water or copper sulphate solution.