Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

jakeXT

(10,575 posts)
Fri Jan 30, 2015, 02:28 PM Jan 2015

How to build your own particle detector




Make a cloud chamber and watch fundamental particles zip through your living room!

The scale of the detectors at the Large Hadron Collider is almost incomprehensible: They weigh thousands of tons, contain millions of detecting elements and support a research program for an international community of thousands of scientists.

But particle detectors aren’t always so complicated. In fact, some particle detectors are so simple that you can make (and operate) them in your own home.

The Continuously Sensitive Diffusion Cloud Chamber is one such detector. Originally developed at UC Berkeley in 1938, this type of detector uses evaporated alcohol to make a ‘cloud’ that is extremely sensitive to passing particles.

Cosmic rays are particles that are constantly crashing into the Earth from space. When they hit Earth’s atmosphere, they release a shower of less massive particles, many of which invisibly rain down to us.

When a cosmic ray zips through a cloud, it creates ghostly particle tracks that are visible to the naked eye.

Building a cloud chamber is easy and requires only a few simple materials and steps:
Materials:

Clear plastic or glass tub (such as a fish tank) with a solid lid (plastic or metal)
Felt

Isopropyl alcohol (90% or more. You can find this at a pharmacy or special order from a chemical supply company. Wear safety goggles when handling the alcohol.)

Dry ice (frozen carbon dioxide. Often used at fish markets and grocery stores to keep products cool. Wear thick gloves when handling the dry ice.)

http://www.symmetrymagazine.org/article/january-2015/how-to-build-your-own-particle-detector?email_issue=665
4 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
How to build your own particle detector (Original Post) jakeXT Jan 2015 OP
Or, one could build ATLAS. longship Jan 2015 #1
Scientific American Book of Projects for the Amateur Scientist (1960) ... eppur_se_muova Jan 2015 #2
cool link, thank you /nt jakeXT Jan 2015 #3
Thank you. That is a neat project. CentralMass Feb 2015 #4

longship

(40,416 posts)
1. Or, one could build ATLAS.
Fri Jan 30, 2015, 03:53 PM
Jan 2015

It is the size of a fairly large office building, 25 meters in diameter by 46 meters long.

Here:

It is undoubtedly the largest digital camera ever constructed. It is part of the largest and most complex machine ever constructed by humankind.

Its complexity is mind boggling.


How many graduate students risked their well-being by routing the myriad of cables through this huge infrastructure? Of course, once the LHC was turned on, repair was not an option. So one had to get it right.

Did I mention that it was the size of an office block?

Big science is fucking awesome. I once stood under the Hale telescope at Mt. Palomar.

The bottom of the optical tube was some 17 feet above the floor. Yet the astronomers there said that one could push the scope with one hand, all multi-tons of it.

I also toured the Tevatron at Fermilab when I worked at Argonne National Lab.

We got to see a bit more into the guts than the public. I loved the Crockroft-Walton injector, a real SciFi experience.


Those were experiences I will never forget. Big science is ultra cool.

Latest Discussions»Culture Forums»Science»How to build your own par...