A Circus of Experiments
The Royal Institution's Annual Christmas Lectures for Young People This 150th series is given by Professor Eric M. Rogers of Princeton and the Nuffield Foundation A series of six programmes 4- Atoms that Explode
See radio-activity demonstrated by its effects as unstable nuclei ' explode ' hurling out minute fragments which trigger a Geiger counter or make visible cloud trails in damp air. Watch the law of radioactive decay measured in a real experiment; see radio-active atoms used as an ultra-sensitive tracer in a living plant. We shall introduce knowledge of half-life - essential to understanding nuclear safety. Finally, see light being questioned as to whether it is a wave or a bullet.
(Part 5 tomorrow)