Cosmic rays at TRIUMF

Cosmic-ray trails are picked up in a layer of supersaturated alcohol, with TRIUMF researcher Des Ramsay explaining how it works. This demonstration is set up in a darkened alcove at the TRIUMF reception center in Vancouver, B.C.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Particle
• Physics
• TRIUMF
• Cosmic
• Rays

[b0y1e]

Sorry... even in the original video, the light streaks were pretty hard to see unless you looked closely at just the right angle, and the quality was even worse once the video was uploaded. You can catch maybe one or two streaks as the vapor rolls past ... but I'll refund your money for this one. ;-) In the next two comments I'll list a couple of Web pages with cosmic-ray cloud chamber close-ups that give you a better idea:

[elevadon]

i saw this kind of thing, but with alchohol and radon gas.

you could clearly see 10 cm long streaks about 1 cm wide apearing due to alfa rays. it was pretty cool^^

[JusticeLeague9]

In NY, you can go to the NY Hall of Science in Queens to see this. It is more mesmerizing than fire. I stared at it for almost an hour. It is absolutely amazing!

[NuclearCookout]

Quite fascinating.

[boylehome]

I'm not seeing my add-on appear, and I'm not sure if URLs are accepted here, so I'll just note that the other videos are available via "Cloud Chamber Videos" at Rochester-dot-edu and "Alpha Particles in a Cloud Chamber" at StMarys-dot-ca.

[dynabyte]

Agreed. The video is completely useless as it doesn't illustrate at all what the tour guide is explaining.

[CrystalStudio]

I see the waves, but that was pretty dark.

[toyota4you]

cant see anything