Cloud Chamber

This is a cloud chamber my Dad and I built. Ours runs around -55C and has a chamber with a diameter of 150mm.  It uses four, two stage peliters that are water cooled. We used an old PC power supply to run everything.  There is also has a “voltage cage” created by a bug zapper circuit that runs at 1.4kv, this helps the tracks be more visible. Below is some information about cloud chambers from wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_chamber) A cloud chamber consists of a sealed environment containing a supersaturated vapor of water or alcohol. An energetic charged particle (for example, an alpha or beta particle) interacts with the gaseous mixture by knocking electrons off gas molecules via electrostatic forces during collisions, resulting in a trail of ionized gas particles. The resulting ions act as condensation centers around which a mist-like trail of small droplets form if the gas mixture is at the point of condensation. These droplets are visible as a “cloud” track that persists for several seconds while the droplets fall through the vapor. These tracks have characteristic shapes. For example, an alpha particle track is thick and straight, while a beta particle track is wispy and shows more evidence of deflections by collisions.

1. Cloud chambers allow scientists to observe the paths of charged particles as they pass through the chamber. By creating a supersaturated vapor environment, the particles ionize the vapor molecules, creating a visible trail of tiny droplets or clouds. This visualization helps researchers study the behavior, properties, and interactions of these particles.
2. Particle identification: Cloud chambers can be used to identify different types of particles based on their path and characteristics. By analyzing the curvature, density, and other properties of the particle tracks, scientists can distinguish between various particles, such as electrons, muons, alpha particles, and more.
3. Studying radioactivity: Cloud chambers are particularly useful in studying radioactive decay and radiation. Radioactive particles emitted from a radioactive source can be observed and their properties analyzed within the cloud chamber. This helps scientists understand the nature of radioactivity, decay processes, and the behavior of radioactive particles.