Editing Geiger counter (section)

{{Short description|Instrument used for measuring ionizing radiation}}
{{For|the album|Geiger Counter (album){{!}}''Geiger Counter'' (album)}}
{{Infobox laboratory equipment
|name         = Geiger–Müller counter
|image        = geiger counter.jpg
|caption      = A "two-piece" bench-type Geiger–Müller counter using a cylindrical end-window detector connected to an electronics module with analogue readout
|acronym      = 
|other_names  = Geiger Counter
|inventor     = [[Hans Geiger]],<br />[[Walther Müller]]
|manufacturer = 
|model        = 
|related      = [[Geiger–Müller tube]]}}
[[File:Giger counter sound KCl.oga|thumb|right|The sound of a geiger counter]]
A '''Geiger counter''' ({{IPAc-en|'|g|ai|g|@r}}, {{respell|GY|gər}};<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://dictionary.cambridge.org/pronunciation/english/geiger-counter|title=Geiger counter &#124; Pronunciation in English}}</ref> also known as a '''Geiger–Müller counter''' or '''G-M counter''') is an electronic instrument for detecting and measuring [[ionizing radiation]] with the use of a [[Geiger–Müller tube]]. It is widely used in applications such as [[radiation dosimetry]], [[radiological protection]], [[experimental physics]] and the [[nuclear industry]].

"Geiger counter" is often used generically to refer to any form of [[dosimeter]] (or, ''radiation-measuring device''), but scientifically, a Geiger counter is only one specific type of dosimeter.

It detects ionizing radiation such as [[alpha particle]]s, [[beta particle]]s, and [[gamma ray]]s using the ionization effect produced in a [[Geiger–Müller tube]], which gives its name to the instrument.<ref name="cent" /> In wide and prominent use as a [[survey meter|hand-held radiation survey instrument]], it is perhaps one of the world's best-known [[particle detector|radiation detection]] instruments.

The original detection principle was realized in 1908 at the [[University of Manchester]],<ref>E. Rutherford and H. Geiger (1908) "An electrical method of counting the number of α particles from radioactive substances," Proceedings of the Royal Society (London), Series A, vol. 81, no. 546, pages 141–161.</ref> but it was not until the development of the Geiger–Müller tube in 1928 that the Geiger counter could be produced as a practical instrument. Since then, it has been very popular due to its robust sensing element and relatively low cost. However, there are limitations in measuring high radiation rates and the [[Electronvolt|energy]] of incident radiation.<ref name="knoll"
 />

The Geiger counter is one of the first examples of [[data sonification]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=What is Sonification - Accessible Oceans |url=https://accessibleoceans.whoi.edu/what-is-sonification/ |access-date=2024-05-30 |website=What is data sonificaiton |publisher=Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute |language=en-US}}</ref>