Geiger-Müller counters help to monitor ionising radiation today. Although these counters were invented as long ago as the beginning of the 20th century, no worthy replacement has been found for them to this day, and for this reason they are the most widespread instruments.
In principle, the device itself is laughably simple – the whole construction consists of two electrodes placed in an evacuated sealed tube filled with a gas mixture of neon and argon. These gases are inside the tube because they are easily ionised. The material of which the tube is made is not so important. It can be made of ordinary untreated metal, of glass or of another material. A Geiger counter can detect radiation over its whole surface, but there are also instruments with a special “window”.
Not only in the CIS countries but throughout Europe and the countries of the Americas, the question of radiation contamination remains open. This is just what accounts for the growing popularity of these instruments.
Incidentally, the building material used in the construction and finishing of ordinary houses and offices can also emit radiation. Strange as it may seem, one can even buy food that is contaminated with radionuclides. The radiation background can be raised in an ordinary place of recreation. All this is extremely dangerous, because a person cannot sense exposure to radiation in any way, while the consequences can be quite unpredictable. Irradiation is often a cause of cancerous tumours, diseases of the nervous system and leukaemia. A Geiger counter helps us to avoid radioactive radiation.
When people begin to use this instrument, they are horrified to find how many radioactive elements can be met in a single day. Of course, much depends on the country and the city in which one lives. With a Geiger counter one can check any place one visits – the garage, the workplace, the house, the dacha, anything at all. The frequency of the counter's sound signal will indicate that the radiation is increasing. Of course, it is frightening to hear such a thing, but even on a walk in the forest to pick mushrooms it is better to take such a counter along, so as not to wander by accident into a dangerous area.
This counter also makes it possible to check not only premises and terrain but also individual things, such as building materials for repairing a house or building a dacha. A Geiger counter is able simply to make one's life safer. Besides, it is sold in many places, and the present-day “Kulibins” can make one from improvised materials.
Published: 22.10.12
In principle, the device itself is laughably simple – the whole construction consists of two electrodes placed in an evacuated sealed tube filled with a gas mixture of neon and argon. These gases are inside the tube because they are easily ionised. The material of which the tube is made is not so important. It can be made of ordinary untreated metal, of glass or of another material. A Geiger counter can detect radiation over its whole surface, but there are also instruments with a special “window”.
Not only in the CIS countries but throughout Europe and the countries of the Americas, the question of radiation contamination remains open. This is just what accounts for the growing popularity of these instruments.
Incidentally, the building material used in the construction and finishing of ordinary houses and offices can also emit radiation. Strange as it may seem, one can even buy food that is contaminated with radionuclides. The radiation background can be raised in an ordinary place of recreation. All this is extremely dangerous, because a person cannot sense exposure to radiation in any way, while the consequences can be quite unpredictable. Irradiation is often a cause of cancerous tumours, diseases of the nervous system and leukaemia. A Geiger counter helps us to avoid radioactive radiation.
When people begin to use this instrument, they are horrified to find how many radioactive elements can be met in a single day. Of course, much depends on the country and the city in which one lives. With a Geiger counter one can check any place one visits – the garage, the workplace, the house, the dacha, anything at all. The frequency of the counter's sound signal will indicate that the radiation is increasing. Of course, it is frightening to hear such a thing, but even on a walk in the forest to pick mushrooms it is better to take such a counter along, so as not to wander by accident into a dangerous area.
This counter also makes it possible to check not only premises and terrain but also individual things, such as building materials for repairing a house or building a dacha. A Geiger counter is able simply to make one's life safer. Besides, it is sold in many places, and the present-day “Kulibins” can make one from improvised materials.
Published: 22.10.12