And what country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
Thursday, December 19, 2024
Uranium in a cloud chamber that has been cooled to -30C and saturated with alcohol vapor
Gilbert Atomic Energy Lab, 1950. https://orau.org/health-physics-museum/collection/toys/gilbert-u-238-atomic-energy-lab.html Had one. There were directions for a cloud chamber. Today, that toy for ten year olds would be a postgraduate tool, and illegal as hell.
Um. No. Wilson cloud chamber shows IONIZED particles (alpha, beta, like that). Neutrons won't show in a standard chamber. Partial credit for "fission products", which is generally understood to be the pieces left after fission occurs, during which process ionized particles (amongst other things) are also emitted- so the tracks aren't really fission products as nuclear scientists use the term, but probably fair use as the general public (mis)understands the term.
I made a cheapo cloud chamber years ago for my 10-year old step-daughter.
You need 2 clear glass bowls, about 10', some dry ice to cover the bottom of one one bowl, a piece of black velvet to cover the dry ice, and some Everclear. Saturate the velvet with the Everclear, then lay it on the dry ice. Put the other bowl upside down on the first. You have to wait 15-20 minutes for the "cloud layer" to form, but once it does a cosmic ray particle will leave a track when it goes through.
The look on her face when she saw the first track was priceless.
That is a frightening and engrossing gif.
ReplyDeleteWho figured out THAT recipe?
ReplyDeleteJim Beam
DeleteGilbert Atomic Energy Lab, 1950. https://orau.org/health-physics-museum/collection/toys/gilbert-u-238-atomic-energy-lab.html
DeleteHad one. There were directions for a cloud chamber. Today, that toy for ten year olds would be a postgraduate tool, and illegal as hell.
It is far more important that 10 year olds learn that men can have babies.
DeleteFrom the link. 50 bucks in 1950. That's about $670 in 2024. Dad says no-F-way!
DeleteThose are the neutrons and fission products.
ReplyDeleteAmazing gif.
Um. No. Wilson cloud chamber shows IONIZED particles (alpha, beta, like that). Neutrons won't show in a standard chamber. Partial credit for "fission products", which is generally understood to be the pieces left after fission occurs, during which process ionized particles (amongst other things) are also emitted- so the tracks aren't really fission products as nuclear scientists use the term, but probably fair use as the general public (mis)understands the term.
DeleteI made a cheapo cloud chamber years ago for my 10-year old step-daughter.
ReplyDeleteYou need 2 clear glass bowls, about 10', some dry ice to cover the bottom of one one bowl, a piece of black velvet to cover the dry ice, and some Everclear.
Saturate the velvet with the Everclear, then lay it on the dry ice.
Put the other bowl upside down on the first.
You have to wait 15-20 minutes for the "cloud layer" to form, but once it does a cosmic ray particle will leave a track when it goes through.
The look on her face when she saw the first track was priceless.