[boyle] 



RADIOACTIVE EMANATIONS IN LIQUIDS 



77 



When water, or a water solution of a salt, was the absorbing 

 liquid it was necessary to insert a sulphuric acid drying bottle between 

 the liquid and the testing vessel in order to prevent reducing 

 insulation by moisture. The fact is not overlooked that some emana- 

 tion must be absorbed in bubbling through the sulphuric acid drying 

 bottle, but in a series of comparison experiments this will be con- 

 stant in all cases, and therefore it will not afïect a qualitative com- 

 parison. 



By thismethod it is hardly possible to determine the absorption 

 coefficient in the sense of Henry's law, for on account of the quick 

 rushing of the emanation and the rapid decay of the same, even when 

 it has been absorbed, it is not to be expected that the equilibrium 

 condition between the air and the liquid is attained. It is only ex- 



so 



AO 



rLOW IN CC /s£C 



riG 1 



pected that the method will serve for a qualitative comparison of the 

 absorptive qualities of different liquids, or of the same liquid at differ- 

 ent temperatures. 



For the experiments 28.8 gms. of thorium hydroxide were used 

 as the source of emanation with 55.7 cc. of absorbing liquid. In per- 

 forming the experiments it was found that the bubbling of the 

 air through the absorbing liquid caused fluctuations in the heights of 

 the manometer columns. In the case of the faster speeds of air flow the 

 fluctuations were not great, in the lower speeds they were more appreci- 

 able, but not so great as to prevent a good mean value being taken. 



The curves shown are constructed with values of ionization 

 in the testing vessel as ordinates and corresponding values of speed 

 of air flow as abscissae. Figure 1 and Table I show the results, at 



