Page:Radio-activity.djvu/168

 The results on the magnetic and electric deviation of the [Greek: alpha] rays of radium have been confirmed by Des Coudres, by the photographic method. Some pure radium bromide was used as a source of radiation. The whole apparatus was enclosed in a vessel which was exhausted to a low vacuum. In this way, not only was he able to determine the photographic action of the rays at a much greater distance from the source, but he was also able to apply a stronger electric field without the passage of a spark. He found values of the constants given by

V = 1·65 × 10^9 cms. per sec. e/m = 6·4 × 10^3.

These values are in very good agreement with the numbers found by the electric method. The [Greek: alpha] rays from radium are complex, and probably consist of a stream of positively charged bodies projected at velocities lying between certain limits. The amount of deviation of the particles in a magnetic field will thus differ according to the velocity of the particle. The photographic results of Becquerel seem to indicate that the velocity of the rays of radium can vary only within fairly narrow limits, since the trajectory of the rays in a magnetic field is sharply marked and not nearly as diffuse as in similar experiments with the [Greek: beta] rays. The evidence, however, discussed in the following section, shows that the velocities of the [Greek: alpha] particles from a thick layer of radium vary over a considerable range.

92. Becquerel has examined the amount of magnetic deviation of the [Greek: alpha] rays at different distances from the source of the rays in a very simple way. A narrow vertical pencil of the rays, after its passage through a narrow slit, fell on a photographic plate, which was inclined at a small angle to the vertical and had its lower edge perpendicular to the slit. The trajectory of the rays is shown by a fine line traced on the plate. If a strong magnetic field is applied parallel to the slit, the trajectory of the rays is displaced to the right or left according to the direction of the field. If equal times of exposure are given for the magnetic field