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Re: Spinthariscope (fwd)

Where does one obtain a radium dial watch! I thought they halted production
of these decades ago.

Tom McCarthy
Saint Edward's School
1895 St. Edward's Drive
Vero Beach, FL 32963
561-231-4136
Physics and Astronomy
-----Original Message-----
From: Eric T. Lane <elane@cecasun.utc.edu>
To: phys-l@atlantis.uwf.edu <phys-l@atlantis.uwf.edu>
Date: Saturday, March 14, 1998 8:06 PM
Subject: Re: Spinthariscope (fwd)


You can observe these scintillations easily. Simply take a radium dial
watch to bed with you. After 20-30 minutes, when your eyes have
adjusted to the dark, hold the watch close to your eye. The individual
flashes of radium decay emited alpha particles hitting the zinc sulfide
matrix show up brightly. To see the flashes more clearly, take a
magnifier to bed with you as well.

Prof. Eric T. Lane 423-755-4523 eric-lane@utc.edu
Physics Department, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, TN 37403