The absorption of the radiation emitted by a palladium anticathode in rhodium, palladium and silver

Abstract

The analysis of a beam of rays from an X-ray bulb by reflection at a crystal face shows that the bulb emits a continuous spectrum of radiation upon which are superposed a few wave-lengths which stand out prominently from the rest, these being the characteristic wave-lengths of the metal of the anticathode. Much note has not been taken hitherto of the general radiation, more attention having been paid to that part of the spectrum in the immediate vicinity of the characteristic rays. In the present work an attempt is made to obtain fuller knowledge of the general radiation by studying the absorption coefficients of the rays in the three elements rhodium, palladium, and silver. In the particular bulb chosen, palladium is used as the metal of the anticathode. Apparatus . The apparatus used in the investigation is the Bragg X-ray spectrometer, a full description of which may be found in Bragg’s book on “X-ray and Crystal Structure,” p. 22 et seq . A beam of rays, leaving the anticathode at a grazing angle, passes through two slits before falling on the crystal. The slit nearer to the crystal is movable and can be brought up very close to the crystal. After reflection, the beam passes through a third slit on its way to the ionisation chamber. We shall allude to these three slits as the bulb slit, crystal slit, and chamber slit respectively.