Christopher Pezzella, Seth Batty and Josephine Swann

Abstract:

Particles all around us are constantly zipping through empty space whether they come from outer space as a cosmic ray, or result from spontaneous decay of an element. These particles are invisible to the naked eye, but ever since the invention of the cloud chamber we have been able to see them. The invention of the cloud chamber has had a ton of historical importance within the scientific community including discovering new particles and giving us a way to visualize how these particles behave when in the presence of fields such as a magnetic field. Our cloud chambers work by cooling a viewing area saturated with rubbing alcohol using thermoelectric peltier coolers. When the area gets cold enough, the disturbances on the alcohol film creates a streak of condensation similar to the streaks left by planes flying in the sky. Our goal this summer was to scale up the current design of the cloud chamber using larger viewing areas and water cooling and to conduct a workshop for kids via the STEP program with Union College on how to assemble these chambers.