What is a Geiger Counter?
A geiger counter is a device that detects ionizing radiation. At its heart is a Geiger-Mueller tube, which contains gas which is arranged around a high-voltage electrode in such a manner as to be just barely on the verge of ionizing.When a particle or wave of ionizing radiation strikes one of the gas molecules, in the G-M tube, this triggers an avalanche effect that causes all the gas to momentarily ionize and to conduct electrical current. This produces the click that you hear when a geiger counter is operating. The more radiation there is, the more often this will occur, and the more rapidly it will click. Having been told that a geiger counter would probably not respond to x-rays, I’ve made a point of bringing mine along on those few occasions that I’ve had to be x-rayed. I can tell you, therefore, from direct experience, that my geiger counter does indeed respond to x-rays.
A Geiger counter is a scientific device used to measure ionizing radiation, radiation which has created electrically unstable atoms. Because of the extreme sensitivity of a Geiger counter, it is ideal for measuring even very low levels of radiation. There are a number of uses for Geiger counters and other radiation detectors including physics, astronomy, and the medical industry. Specially designed versions can also be targeted to read specific types of radiation. The initial groundwork for the Geiger counter was laid in 1908, when a German physicist named Hans Geiger developed an early version of the device. In 1928, with the help of Walther Muller, Geiger refined his counter, making it more effective and sensitive. Other scientists have added to the technology since then, although the basic principles of how a Geiger counter operates remain the same. The core of a Geiger counter is a Geiger tube, a glass cylinder filled with a gas such as helium, neon, or argon. A thin metal wire run
