Alpha and beta particles namedIn 1898, in a paper dated 1 Sep, Ernest Rutherford coined the terms alpha and beta “for two distinct types of radiation,.one that is very readily absorbed, which will be termed for convenience the α radiation, and the other of a more penetrative character, which will be termed the β radiation.” His paper, Uranium Radiation and the Electrical Conduction Produced by It, gave tables of the amount of radiation that passed through successive layers of metal leaf (or aluminium foil). He measured it using the rate at which charge leaked off a zinc plate due to the ionizing influence of the uranium radiation that reached it, as detected by the needle of an electrometer connected to it. He also compared the radiation emitted by different uranium compounds; and transparency to the radiation of different filter substances.«[Ref: Philosphical Magazine (1898), 47, 109-67. |
