Electrometer Enhancement
From MariachiWiki
Background
By: Josh Seidman
The earth is made up of a giant network of fields, both electric and magnetic in nature, yet their existence typically goes unnoticed by most of the planet's species. Here at MARIACHI, we decided to use this electrical network to our advantage in our study of Cosmic Rays.
Lightning is one of the most fascinating occurrences that the Earth produces. However, despite the leaps that have been made in the scientific world over the last few centuries, scientists are unsure of how this phenomenae is triggered.
Many physicists around the globe have proposed a hypothesis that stated that cosmic rays could be the catalyst that initiates the lightning process (for addition information on this relationship check out our Cosmic Ray and Lightning page).
One of the devices that has aided MARIACHI in studying the previously stated relationship is called an electrometer. This is a device that very simply measures the electric field within a certain area. When a lightning stike occurs, there is a jump in the electric field of the surrounding area due to the high electrical properties of the lightning strike.
Over the previous summers, the particpants here with the project came across an article entitled "An Experimenter's Electrometer" by Richard Hull (Electrometer Circuit) which effectively teaches amateur scientists how to build their very own electrometer.
MARIACHI has produced several of these devices over the last three years and they have been used to measure the changes that occur in the electric field surrounding BNL during a thunderstorm.
The '07 Goal
Using the model described in Richard Hull's article, and the model produced by Josh Seidman, we are planning on constructing multiple electrometers and then distributing these electrometers to the high schools that are currently particpating involved with the experiment.
Using the (PCB123 Software) we were able to design detailed circuit schematics of the electrometer. We than ordered 25 circuit boards that are identical to the schematic we designed on the program. By having these boards already made and the location of the components already laid out, we will be able to make more the electrometer circuits at a much greater rate than in the previous years.
"Easy mass production. That's our goal," said Chris Owen, 19, a current high school trainee working on MARIACHI. "We're setting them up in nice little kits so when we're ready it'll be easy for us to send them off to the high schools."
In addition to adding the components to the circuit boards, the participants are also brainstorming ways to make the "sphere" part of the electrometer more effective. The "sphere," which serves as the conductor that experiences the electric field shifts that occur in the environment, is currently made out of two stainless steel salad bowls.
More information to come...
Return to Summer Science Season 2007
