ArtAndScience Posted April 29, 2013 Share Posted April 29, 2013 (edited) Hi! This is my first post here. I am a digital artist who develops interactive learning for science and engineering subjects, hence myID. Today, I built a simple 'cloud chamber' to detect atomic particle tracks--a photo is below. The particle source I used is a small button ofAm-241. Most of the tracks I observed seem to be either straight (alpha?) or curved (beta particles?). The one exception is the bulls-eye pictured below,with two lobes (arrows)--two particles of opposite charge? I have never seen such a track in a cloud chamber in all I have seen--do you have any idea what it is? The picture below is a composite of several shots taken of the trails. Someone in another forum suggested the Am-241 button moved, leaving that mark. However, this is the first thing I checked. Below shows a sequence of shots at approx. 1 second intervals, with the "bull's-eye" visible in the middle frame, and the button has not moved. Edited April 29, 2013 by ArtAndScience Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krash661 Posted April 29, 2013 Share Posted April 29, 2013 (edited) i have no clue Edited April 29, 2013 by krash661 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArtAndScience Posted April 29, 2013 Author Share Posted April 29, 2013 Hi, and thanks for commenting. I really have no clue either, which is why I asked. I've watched a few videos of cloud chambers in action and did not spot anything similar. One question I asked myself--if a atom's nucleus were struck by a heavy particle (such as a neutron), or it spontaneously fissioned--could it be seen in a cloud chamber? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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