III. The Oxidation of Ferrous Sulphate Solution

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Abstract
This paper is concerned with the relative efficiency of 4 MeV and 300 kV X rays as measured by the oxidation of ferrous sulphate solution. The use of this reaction as a chemical dosemeter has been widely advocated in recent years and it is now believed that the G value (number of molecules oxidised per 100 eV absorbed) is almost constant over a considerable range of X-ray energies and dose-rates (Miller, 1956). Only with radiation of very high track density (e.g. a-particles and lowenergy β-particles) do gross changes in G value occur. This relatively satisfactory situation has, however, only recently been reached, discrepancies in the past being partly due to difficulties of absolute physical dosimetry, which are mentioned in Part II, and partly to chemical difficulties associated with the presence of organic impurities (now overcome by the addition of sodium chloride). Very few comparisons have been made of the yield of ferrous sulphate oxidation at two different X-ray energies in the same laboratory, and the results of the present experiments are of general interest in view of the importance of the reaction as a chemical dosimeter. Little difference was to be expected between the G values for the radiations from the two machines, and it seemed desirable to investigate the reproducibility of the method under the conditions prevailing in our laboratory and to make the actual comparison as strict as possible.

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