User:Rebeccabrentwood
From MariachiWiki
 Brentwood High School |
As a high school teacher I believe that it is important to expand our students horizons. My involvment in the Mariachi Project began in late 2005 when my colleague introduced me to individuals in Quarknet. My interest in Mariachi was a direct result of discussions with Dr. Takai. Since then, several of my research students have begun to design projects and plan to be involved in detector construction. I am pleased to be working with all of you to expand the project as well as encourage current and future student involvement.
Recently, I took part in the Quarknet workshop hosted by LIGASE at SUNY Stony Brook. During this time I constructed a Cloud Chamber. A cloud chamber is a device that is used to show the tracks of radioactive particles as they pass through a supersaturated environment. To create this supersaturated environment we utilized dry ice and pure ethanol.
The creation of a supersaturated environment is critical to visualize particles of radiation as it is impossible for us to see the particles that pass around us. However, through the construction of a cloud chamber is is possible to visualize these particles. Specifically observed through the use of a chamber are: (1) High Speed Protons, (2) Electrons, (3) Muons, (4) Unkonwn Particles.
In the above image I have placed my chamber (2.5 gallon fishtank)on top of an elevated surface and utlized an overhead projector light to visualize the particle pathways. The Particle superhighway is visualized more readily when the room lights are dim. The image below illustrates the types of tracks observed when the light is projected onto the bottom surface of the chamber.
At times it is easy to differentiate particle type specifically when a known beta source is used.
The Materials needed to construct the chamber shown above are listed below:
- 1 2.5 gallon fish tank or larger
- 1 4x6 500 Gauss Magnet
- 1 Anodized Aluminum Plate with drill holes placed in center of plate
- 4 2 inch strips of Velcro
- 2 Strips of black felt cut into 3x7 strips
- 1 Roll of Duct Tape
- 1 Small Styrofoam cooler (no lid required)
- 1 Liter of Pure Ethanol
- 10 lbs of Dry Ice
- 1 Light Source (Flashlight or Overhead Projector)
- Strips of weather stripping to seal chamber top
- 4 Aluminum Heat Sinks
The materials listed above are for the construction of a mini-chamber if one wishes to build a larger chamber the size of the tanks as well as the size of the anodized aluminum plate should be adjusted.
When it is time to discard dry ice from the chamber cooler, blowing bubbles into dry ice offfers quite a nice demonstration illustrating the density of Carbon Dioxide.
On our final day of Quarknet we discussed the uses of cloud chambers in the classroom. We brainstormed the following ideas:
- (1) Cloud chambers can be used to illustrate evidence of atomic particles
- (2) Charged vs. Uncharged Particles
- (3) Emitters
- (4) Supersaturated Solutions/Environments
- (5)Observe/classify particle type
- (6)Strength of field
- (7) Closed vs Open Systems
- (8) Einstein's theory of Relativity
- (9) Measurable Field of a Magent
