Nature of Radioactive Rays: The phenomenon of radioactivity arises due to the decay of the unstable nucleon of certain elements. The nature of the radiations emitted by a radioactive substance was investigated by Rutherford in 1904 by applying electric and magnetic fields to the radiations. He placed a sample of a radioactive substance (uranium) in a cavity in a block of lead. The lead block absorbed all other radiations except those which pass through the slit and constituted the beam. These radiations coming from the narrow slit were allowed to pass through electric and magnetic fields. The deflections of the … Continue reading Nature of Radioactive Rays