ionization chamber

ionization chamber

noun Physics.
an apparatus for detecting and analyzing ionizing radiation, consisting of a vessel filled with a gas at normal or lower than normal pressure and fitted with two electrodes such that the current between the electrodes is a function of the amount of ionization of the gas.
Also called ion chamber.


Origin:
1900–05
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Ionization chamber is always a great word to know.
So is gravitational field. Does it mean:
the attractive effect of matter on other matter; the region surrounding an astronomical body in which the force of gravitation is strong
the removal of energy or particles from a beam by the medium through which the beam propagates
Collins
World English Dictionary
ionization chamber
 
n
a device for detecting and measuring ionizing radiation, consisting of a tube containing a low pressure gas and two electrodes between which a high voltage is maintained. The current between the electrodes is a function of the intensity of the radiation

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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American Heritage
Medical Dictionary

ionization chamber n.
A chamber for detecting ionization of the enclosed gas, used for determining the intensity of ionizing radiation.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia

ionization chamber

radiation detector used for determining the intensity of a beam of radiation or for counting individual charged particles. The device may consist of a gas-filled, cylindrical container in which an electric field is maintained by impressing a voltage that keeps the wall negative relative to a wire extending along the axis. When a photon or a charged particle enters the chamber, it converts some of the gas molecules to positive ions and electrons; under the influence of the electric field, these particles migrate to the wall and the wire, respectively, and cause an observable pulse of current to flow through the circuit joining these elements

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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