Multiwavelength Astronomy Multimedia


Title

Herbert Friedman's Geiger Counter

Description

Friedman holds U.S. Patent No. 2,475,603, for an adaptation of the tube used in a Geiger-Mueller counter. His tube design increased the counter's sensitivity to weak radiation sources by lowering the background noise of the counter itself. Figure 1 (upper left) is a cut-away view of Friedman's counter tube mounted within a container, called a shield. Figure 2 (lower left) is a front-end view of the tube. Figure 3 (upper right) is a cross-section of the tube showing the arrangement of parts and the structure used for mounting the tube within the shield. Figure 4 (lower right) is a cross-section diagram showing the tube anode and cathode, and a plot of the electric field within the tube.

Subject

  • Geiger Counter
  • Instrument

Credits

Google

Type

Artwork

Associated Lesson

X-Ray History

This material is based upon work supported by NASA under Grant Nos. NNX09AD33G and NNX10AE80G issued through the SMD ROSES 2009 Program.

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