Geiger tube

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Related to Geiger tube: Geiger counter, Geiger counter tube

Geiger tube

When radioactive material collides with gas atoms, the atoms become ionized and release electrons that attach to the anode, creating electrical pulses that can be read by a meter.

Geiger tube

A metal or glass tube filled with gas that is ionized by passing charged particles, producing within the tube an electric charge indicative of a particular particle.

[After Hans Wilhelm Geiger (1882-1945), German physicist.]

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Noun

Geiger tube - an ionization chamber contained in a tube in a Geiger counter

Geiger-Muller tube

Geiger counter, Geiger-Muller counter - counter tube that detects ionizing radiations

ionization chamber, ionization tube - a measuring instrument that measures the amount of ionizing radiation

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References in periodicals archive ?

The Pioneer 10 was a very technical, scientific spacecraft with advanced instrumentation that included: a helium vector magnetometer, quadrispherical plasma analyzer, charged particle instrument, cosmic ray and Geiger tube telescopes, trapped radiation detector, multiple meteorite/asteroid detectors, imaging photopo-larimeter and infrared radiometer.

The 1970s

The radiation sensor boards are sold for E65 ($93) and a sensor board plus the Geiger tube can be had for E95 ($135).

Spanish Co. Ships DIY Geiger Counters To Japan (VIDEO)

[James] Van Allen and his colleagues at the State University of Iowa calculate that if the satellite's cosmic ray geiger tube had not been jammed by an intense radiation field, it would have registered at least 35,000 counts per second.