Modern Physics > Nuclear Physics DCS# 7D30.xx

SPINTHARISCOPE

spinthariscope

APPARATUS
spinthariscope 202-04-C6

DESCRIPTION
The spinthariscope is a brass tube with a zinc sulfide screen at one end, a small radium source on the end of a needle just above the screen, and a magnifying lens at the other end.  The zinc sulfide screen fluoresces when struck by alpha particles.

Look at the screen in a darkened room with dark-adapted eyes and individual flashes can be seen.  The needle can be raised and lowered using the thumbscrew.
NOTES

The spinthariscope shows what happens inside a scintillation detector.

REFERENCES

http://www2.kenyon.edu/depts/physics/EarlyApparatus/Miscellaneous/Spinthariscope/Spinthariscope.html

 http://www.orau.com/ptp/articlesstories/spinstory.htm