One of the following is not a radiation detector

Answer Details

A radiation detector is any device that responds to the ionisation, excitation or chemical change produced when nuclear radiation passes through matter. To answer an "odd one out" question like this, check each device against that definition rather than against how familiar the name sounds.

An electrophorus is an electrostatic instrument. It is a flat insulating disc (or slab) with a metal plate and an insulating handle, used to produce charge repeatedly by friction and then by induction: the slab is charged by rubbing, the metal plate is placed on it and earthed briefly, and the plate carries away a charge of opposite sign. It measures nothing and detects nothing about radioactivity, so it is the device that does not belong in this list.

The other three are genuine detectors. A Geiger-Muller counter uses a gas-filled tube at high voltage in which an entering particle ionises the gas and triggers a pulse of current that is counted electronically. A scintillation counter or chamber uses a phosphor that emits a tiny flash of light when radiation strikes it; a photomultiplier converts each flash into an electrical pulse. A film badge contains photographic film that darkens in proportion to the dose received, so it records the total exposure of a worker over time. In the examination, sort nuclear-physics apparatus by the effect it exploits: ionisation of a gas, light emission, or blackening of photographic emulsion. Anything based only on charging by friction or induction belongs to electrostatics.