A preliminary note on a direct determination of the distribution of intensity in the natural β-ray Spectrum of RaB and RaC

Extract

Many investigations bave sbown the presence of a “continuous” β-ray spectrum accompanying tbe β-ray lines in tbe naturai spec-trum of Ra B and Ra C. The existence of sucb a spectrum is not easily accounted for if one is to regard the nucleus as existing in sharply quantised states. It has been pointed out that this spectrum may be a spurious effect, arising from scattering from the walls of the apparatus and not from within the atom itself. Therefore it is of importance to obtain accurate information regarding the continuous spectrum and its relation to the line spectrum.