Oct 12, 2020
Wait, hold on, so neurotypicals are not suddenly overwhelmed with a sense of "HOLY SHIT CLOUD CHAMBERS ARE SO FUCKING COOL EVERYBODY LOOK CLOUD CHAMEBER VIDEOS/GIFS" ?
Huh.
seen from Russia
seen from Italy
seen from Italy
seen from Saudi Arabia
seen from Australia
seen from South Korea
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Kyrgyzstan
seen from United States
seen from South Korea
seen from China
seen from Russia
seen from Italy
seen from Spain
seen from Malaysia
seen from Malaysia
seen from Australia
seen from United States
seen from United Kingdom
Wait, hold on, so neurotypicals are not suddenly overwhelmed with a sense of "HOLY SHIT CLOUD CHAMBERS ARE SO FUCKING COOL EVERYBODY LOOK CLOUD CHAMEBER VIDEOS/GIFS" ?
Huh.
I love cloud chambers.
Alpha Particles
Radiation is invisible to the naked eye. Here is a way to observe alpha radiation (a particle made of two protons and two neutrons) being emitted from a short-range (4-5cm) radioactive source, A cloud chamber can be constructed with a compartment which is packed with some dry ice (solid carbon dioxide) above which an alpha emitting source is mounted. About 2ml of ethanol is soaked onto a ring of felt around the rim of the chamber with a teat pipette. The lid is placed snugly on top and, after a minute or so, vapour trails can be seen shooting out from the radiation source. What's happening? Radiation is being spontaneously emitted and the alpha particles that are ejected ionises the air molecules that they are passing through. This is turn attracts the ethanol vapour (a polar molecule - ask a chemist) that is in the chamber and the dry ice has cooled it sufficiently that the ethanol condenses into the vapour trails we see as we watch the procession of the alpha particles coming away from the source.