Otto Hahn and the Rise of Nuclear Physics

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and less as the emanation unden\'ent radioactive decay, and it became motion­ less after about 30 seconds. Since this process was occurring very rapidly, Hahn and Sackur marked the position of the pointer on a scale with pencil marks. As a timing device they used a metronome that beat out intervals of approximately 1. 3 seconds. This simple method enabled them to determine that the half-life of the emanations of actinium and emanium were the same. Although Giesel's measurements had been more precise than Debierne's, the name of actinium was retained since Debierne had made the discovery first. Hahn now returned to his sample of barium chloride. He soon conjectured that the radium-enriched preparations must harbor another radioactive sub­ stance. The liquids resulting from fractional crystallization, which were sup­ posed to contain radium only, produced two kinds of emanation. One was the long-lived emanation of radium, the other had a short life similar to the emanation produced by thorium. Hahn tried to separate this substance by adding some iron to the solutions that should have been free of radium, but to no avail. Later the reason for his failure became apparent. The element that emitted the thorium emanation was constantly replenished by the ele­ ment believed to be radium. Hahn succeeded in enriching a preparation until it was more than 100,000 times as intensive in its radiation as the same quantity of thorium.

Author(s): William R. Shea (auth.), William R. Shea (eds.)
Series: The University of Western Ontario Series in Philosophy of Science 22
Edition: 1
Publisher: Springer Netherlands
Year: 1983

Language: English
Pages: 254
Tags: History; Philosophy of Science; Interdisciplinary Studies

Front Matter....Pages i-ix
Introduction: From Rutherford to Hahn....Pages 1-18
The Nuclear Electron Hypothesis....Pages 19-67
The Evolution of Matter: Nuclear Physics, Cosmic Rays, and Robert Millikan’s Research Program....Pages 69-89
The Discovery of Fission and a Nuclear Physics Paradigm....Pages 91-133
Internal and External Conditions for the Discovery of Nuclear Fission by the Berlin Team....Pages 135-165
Otto Hahn, Science, and Social Responsibility....Pages 167-180
The Politics of British Science in the Munich Era....Pages 181-199
Why Hahn’s Radiothorium Surprised Rutherford in Montreal....Pages 201-212
The Discovery of Uranium Z by Otto Hahn: The First Example of Nuclear Isomerism....Pages 213-220
Nuclear Physics in Canada in the 1930s....Pages 221-240
Back Matter....Pages 241-252