A
radioactive body is composed of atoms which have little stability, and
are able to detach themselves spontaneously from the parent substance,
and at the same time to divide themselves into two essential component
parts, the negative electron and its residue the positive ion. The
first-named constitutes the beta, and the second the alpha rays.
The emanation is certainly composed of alpha ions with a few molecules
agglomerated round them. Professor Rutherford has, in fact,
demonstrated that the emanation is charged with positive electricity;
and this emanation may, in turn, be destroyed by giving birth to new
bodies.
After the loss of the atoms which are carried off by the radiation,
the remainder of the body acquires new properties, but it may still be
radioactive, and again lose atoms. The various stages that we meet
with in the evolution of the radioactive substance or of its
emanation, correspond to the various degrees of atomic disaggregation.
Professors Rutherford and Soddy have described them clearly in the
case of uranium and radium.
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