David Ng has a great guide to building your very own sub-atomic-particle-spotting device.

  • annomination

    Cloud chambers are cool in an old school, dirt-simple use of basic physics kind of way. The goal is to create a gas cooled below its condensation temperature that is metastable due to its dilute nature. Ionizing radiation passing through the gas provides the activation necessary to accelerate the condensation, and a “vapor” trail appears that is clearly visible to the eye when illuminated with a bright light source. Clever, simple, and it works. I have been wanting to build one for a while, but I am supposed to publish papers or something…

    • awjt

       Do it for the children.

      • annomination

        Where are these children that you speak of?

        • awjt

           in the cloud chamber

          • annomination

            The one I haven’t built, or the one I am going to build?

          • awjt

            Yes. Like Schroedinger’s cat, they’re everywhere.

          • annomination

            Speaking of children, this photo stream I encountered through the nytimes has restored my faith in humanity and in the existence of children.

            http://www.flickr.com/photos/lab6/

        • technogeekagain

           If you don’t have kids of your own, borrow some from a friend. Be the neat “uncle” who tempts them with Mad Science and Science Fiction.

  • allenbukoff

    My own humble contribution (from a long time ago!) to this category:  http://allenbukoff.com/ScienceFair/CloudChamber1966.html  

  • alesloan

    In the past I have several times taught a boy scout merit badge (in Nuclear) session. (I am a grad student in nuclear engineering.) We have repeatedly tried to create a cloud chamber using a similar, yet slightly different, approach, and it never REALLY worked.

    Every time I bring up this topic to Physics grad students they laugh me off, telling me to give up.

    I’ll have to try this approach! Perhaps it will work better.

  • Ariel Shultz

    this is what i built for my 5th grade science project. my dad always got really big ideas then made me build them through much tears. it did work though, and i didnt even win first place :(

  • Robert Cruickshank

    I made one like this. it’s fun, and it works nicely.
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/84221353@N00/3617281622/

  • pjcamp

    This project was in the World Book Encyclopedia when I was 10.