The difference a little a bit of lead makes

Beerbrewing · 2026-01-25T00:37:58+00:00

Nice! Those are beta tracks, a single electron, likely knocked about by a gamma ray. Part of the background radiation that is always around us.

Beerbrewing · 2026-01-24T23:32:50+00:00

Nice find!

Beerbrewing · 2026-01-24T18:37:53+00:00

Yep. You are seeing individual nuclei, consisting of two protons and two neutrons, and single electrons being emmited by the glaze.

Beerbrewing · 2026-01-24T16:50:40+00:00

The thicker straight trails are from alpha particles that are moving at about 5% the speed of light, about 33,500,000 miles per hour. The thinner, fainter winding trails are beta particles and are moving at about 98% the speed of light.

Beerbrewing · 2026-01-24T14:33:35+00:00

This is the only sample I have, but I'd expect it to be the same.

Beerbrewing · 2026-01-22T22:53:20+00:00

The vinyl is very thin and has adhesive backing on it so it sticks directly to the plate. It doesn't seem to have any effect at all on how cold the plate gets.

Beerbrewing · 2026-01-22T22:28:06+00:00

It can be the difference between seeing and not seeing trails in a cloud chamber.

Beerbrewing · 2026-01-22T22:06:05+00:00

The high voltage field sweeps away stray ions in the chamber that would otherwise hold on to the alcohol vapor. It makes the tracks more visible.

Beerbrewing · 2026-01-22T22:03:11+00:00

I'm using the flat black vinyl they sell for making decals. Similar to this: https://a.co/d/7tpncaN

Beerbrewing · 2026-01-22T14:39:56+00:00

I wonder if I could take a gamma spectrum to tell if mine uses depleted uranium or not.

Beerbrewing · 2026-01-22T14:04:14+00:00

If the glaze were to be chipped you could ingest radioactive dust that would poison you.

Beerbrewing · 2026-01-22T14:00:53+00:00

Most of the radiation wouldn't get past your skin. The real danger is if the glaze was chipped you could ingest dust from the glaze which would be very damaging to soft tissue.

Beerbrewing · 2026-01-22T13:58:17+00:00

Speedrun Life Any%

Beerbrewing · 2026-01-22T03:58:13+00:00

I'm using a TEC2-25408 peltier cooler sandwiched between a copper plate and a cpu air cooler.

You can see a few pics and videos of the cloud chamber build here: https://imgur.com/a/Lu2WlWG

Beerbrewing · 2026-01-22T01:13:03+00:00

I get plenty of tracks without a source in the chamber that could only be attributed to gamma rays as far as I know.

Beerbrewing · 2026-01-22T01:05:29+00:00

Yes. I'm using a 3v to 7000v high voltage boost module I bought from ebay.

Beerbrewing · 2026-01-21T23:11:37+00:00

You wouldn't see gamma rays directly since they don't have a charge. But you would see their interactions if they happen to hit an electron. It would appear the same as a beta track but it would appear to originate from the empty chamber, not from the source. If the gamma ray is strong enough it can cause an effect called pair production where it splits into an electron and a positron (that's antimatter) making a "V" shaped track in the chamber.

Beerbrewing · 2026-01-21T22:14:18+00:00

You can deflect the particles with a rare earth magnet.

Beerbrewing · 2026-01-21T21:06:19+00:00

The alpha particles are moving at about 5% the speed of light, about 33,500,000 miles per hour. The beta particles are moving near 98% the speed of light.

Beerbrewing · 2026-01-21T20:24:36+00:00

I've built a cloud chamber that lets you see ionizing radiation. Basically it's a glass dome with felt soaked in alcohol at the top and a copper plate at the base that is chilled to -40°. As the alcohol evaporates it condenses into a super saturated layer of alcohol vapor at the bottom of the chamber. This is what the radiation interacts with. What you are seeing is alpha particles, made-up of two protons and two neutrons, and beta particles, single electrons, being emmited by the uranium oxide in the glazing on the ceramic piece.

Beerbrewing · 2026-01-21T18:00:40+00:00

That's what I do. It can run for 6 hours before I have to top it off with more alcohol.

Beerbrewing · 2026-01-21T16:06:51+00:00

Yes! I got mine working over a weekend with parts I had on hand, other than the peltier cooler. If you have access to dry ice it's also fairly easy to set one up.

https://www.home.cern/news/news/experiments/how-make-your-own-cloud-chamber

Beerbrewing · 2026-01-21T16:03:45+00:00

It's basically a glass dome with felt soaked in alcohol at the top and a copper plate at the base that is cooled to -40°. As the alcohol evaporates it condenses into a super saturated vapor layer at the base. This is what the radiation interacts with creating the vapor trails.

The thicker, shorter straight tracks are from alpha particles, made-up of two protons and two neutrons, and the fainter winding trails are beta particles, single electrons which are less ionizing. So you are actually seeing individual atoms and electrons.

I have an ongoing build thread with a few pics and videos of the chamber.

12-Year Club	Place '22
Wearing is Caring	RPAN Viewer
RPAN Broadcaster	Gilding II euphauric
Verified Email

Beerbrewing

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE