EN-08 Student Beta Spectrograph
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The Daedalon EN-08 Beta Spectrograph makes it easy to show the difference between these beta and gamma radiation.
Radiation from a beta particle source is collimated and passes through a magnetic field which deflects the beam, showing that the particles have a negative charge. The beam is detected with a Geiger Tube. The frame of the Spectrograph is cast iron, with the magnetic field produced by a pair of ceramic magnets attached to the pole faces. The rotating arm carrying the source has a scale for measurement of the deflection angle. The beta source supplied is Tl-204, but other beta sources can be substituted.
The most significant characteristic of the beta spectrum is the energy cutoff. It is clear that most of the energy occurs at lower values than the cutoff value. If the beta particles emerge with a wide range of energy, how is momentum and spin conserved? Conservation is maintained by a very hard-to-detect particle, the neutrino, that carries off the balance of the energy and spin.
