Vintage Spinthariscope. Observe radioactive decay, atmic ocollisions For Sale

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Vintage Spinthariscope. Observe radioactive decay, atmic ocollisions:
$70.00

This device was in a box of lab stuff we bought back in 1968 when setting up a Rare Earth Separation facility. It is called a spinthariscope and often is used in educational classrooms (physics / Radiochemistry experiments) to demonstrate the viewing of charged particle interactions. Mostly Alpha\'s which do not travel far.

It is a metal cylinder 1” long when collapsed, and about 1.5\" long when extended. It is about 1/2” in diameter at the smaller end where the fluorescent screens (phosphor) and sample sits inside. The screen is reportedly Zinc Sulphide activated by Copper (ZnS:Cu). Cup in bottom side used for hold specimens and other samples (uranium minerals, etc/). I think the small sample in there now (included) is a very small piece of Uranium ore.

Alpha-particles generated during decay reaction causes the scintillations and tracks on the fluorescent screen. It takes a minute or two or even longer for your eyes to get used to the dark to be able to see the activit

A Spinthariscope (also called Crookes spinthariscope) is a device for observing individual nuclear disintegration caused by the interaction of ionizing radiation with a phosphor.

The spinthariscope was invented by William Crookes in 1903. While observing the apparently uniform fluorescence on a zinc sulphide screen created by the radioactive emissions (mostly alpha radiation) of a sample of radium bromide, he spilled some of the sample, and, owing to its extreme rarity and cost, he was eager to find and recover it. Upon inspecting the zinc sulphide screen under a microscope, he noticed separate flashes of light created by individual alpha particle collisions with the screen. Crookes took his discovery a step further and invented a device specifically intended to view these scintillations. It consisted of a small screen coated with zinc sulphide affixed to the end of a tube, with a tiny amount of radium salt suspended a short distance from the screen and a lens on the other end of the tube for viewing the screen.