Lexic.us

Definition of Beta ray

1. Noun. Radiation of beta particles during radioactive decay.

Medical Definition of Beta ray

1. 1. Original term used for electrons (and positrons) ejected from decaying nuclei via beta emission. (Label derives from the old days when we had various kinds of radiation emission, and they were labelled alpha, beta, and gamma (the first letters of the Greek Alphabet) because no one really knew what any of them were.) 2. A stream of positive or negative electrons ejected with high energy from a disintegrating atomic nucleus; most biomedically used isotopes emit negative particles (electrons or negatrons, rather than positrons). Cathode rays are low-energy negative electrons produced in cathode ray tubes, also called television tubes or oscilloscopes. (12 Sep 2000)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Beta Ray

Literary usage of Beta ray

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Wisconsin Medical Journal by State Medical Society of Wisconsin (1905)
"Williams has recently shown by some convincing experiments that the beta ray, which deflects in the same direction as the cathode ray, is analogous to it, ..."

2. Radium Therapy by Frank Edward Simpson (1922)
"Thus it is seen that the gamma ray is a secondary phenomenon, and the energy of the gamma rays represents energy lost by the beta ray as it escapes from the ..."

3. Transactions of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers by American Institute of Electrical Engineers (1913)
"Therefore the beta ray activity / at any time is proportional to N, the number of atoms of uranium X present at that time; we thus have 7 = Jo e~" where 70 ..."

4. Biographical Memoirs by Caroline K. McEuen, National Academy Of Sciences, National Academy of Sciences Staff (1980)
"As mentioned above, the nuclear spectroscopists working with DuMond found it desirable to supplement the curved crystal gamma-ray spectrometer with beta-ray ..."

5. New Mexico Mines and Minerals ...: Being an Epitome of the Early Mining by Fayette Alexander Jones (1904)
"The beta ray has been definitely proven to be the same as the cathode ray of the vacuum tube; its material particles are thus negatively charged. ..."

6. Science by American Association for the Advancement of Science (1917)
"Or again, suppose that the nucleus loses a beta ray through the radioactive process. ... This suggests that each emission of a beta ray by a ..."

7. Radium for therapeutic purposes by Charles F. Whittemore (1919)
"The average range of the beta ray in air is about 250 cms. From the therapeutic standpoint beta rays possess considerable importance, and allowance must ..."

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