Cloud chamber
May 2nd, 2008What's "Cloud chamber"?
Invented by Charles Wilson in 1897, a cloud chamber is a device to detect the path of charged particles.
In Wilson's original chamber the air inside the sealed device was saturated with water vapor, then a diaphragm was used to expand the air inside the chamber (adiabatic expansion). This cools the air and water vapor starts to condense. When an ionizing particle passes through the chamber, water vapor condenses on the resulting ions and the trail of the particle is visible in the vapor cloud.
(Retrieved April 30, 2008, from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_chamber")
Simply put, a cloud chamber is a container with supersaturated alcohol in it.
It enables us to see the tracks left by radiation rays. We are now planning to make a large cloud chamber for display.
Check it out in our school festival!