Cloud Chamber

could you take a piece of glow in the dark material and place it over the 241Americium to see if it excites the Phosphor and causes it to self illuminate, I want to see if alpha is better than beta to self illuminate a glow in the dark object or phosphorescent compound

Why don't you spend the $10 on a smoke detector and try it yourself?

Hey - why did you need to apply electricity to drop dust out of the air? I was looking this up on Wikipedia and following links around, and I didn't see references to this step (then again, it also didn't explain why the ions act as cloud condensation nuclei. I suspect it is get-a-book-from-the-library time.)

This is a seriously awesome project :D

You don't need to- the chamber will settle on its own after about a half hour or so, but this is quicker. You also get to see cool ion streamer patterns.

ooooooh a radioactive bagel! the new way to get Tc99m into the body! without needles! just kidding, i do like those huge alpha trails in the beginning!

I'm not too clear on what the conditions are inside the chamber.. (I really should look this up and embiggen my mind in this area), but assuming that it is not *too* hostile, have you got a camera you could put inside the chamber for the next round? Maybe some cheapo webcam?

The chamber contains air with a supersaturated alcohol vapour that constantly rains from the pad at the top. It's not a great place for lenses or most plastics. Fortunately, polycarbonate doesn't dissolve in isopropanol.

What's with the half eaten bagel?

That's the radioactive source from a smoke detector. Does not taste good with cream cheese.