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Definition of "scintillation" []

  • The act of scintillating. (noun)
  • A spark; a flash. (noun)
  • Astronomy Rapid variation in the light of a celestial body caused by turbulence in Earth's atmosphere; a twinkling. (noun)
  • Physics A flash of light produced in a phosphor by absorption of an ionizing particle or photon. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "scintillation" in a sentence
  • "The process involved the tiresome task of the chemical separation of the element, its purification, and the final concentration on a small surface. 92 Since polonium did not emit beta particles that usually interfered in scintillation counting, its use as a radioactive source was most advantageous."
  • "Chadwick's careful surveillance, 25 and he eventually assigned specific research projects to them after a short introductory course which included training in scintillation counting."
  • "Finally, several of the persons mentioned must act as counters in scintillation observations when the ordinary disintegration apparatus or the mass spectrographs are used. 170"
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