I can't believe you made this as a kid! I'm a fully grown adult with kids and I find this stuff beyond fascinating. I wish I had better science teachers as a kid but they just taught us to pass the tests. I'm so lucky to live in time or I can easily access this kind of great information online... Thanks to a great videos like yours!
My grand father thought I was super lucky to grow up in the 80s ..cause the 50s sucked..I think kids today are super lucky cause they grew up with internet..where as I, even tho a child prodigy, didn't get a computer till I was 14..and that had 20k ram. But now after thinking about it for 20 more years...I think that in general, the past Just sucked.
You aren't seeing the particle, you see the condensation. And that condensation is already plenty fast. It's mostly the slow movement of air and the IPA vapors that produces the impression of "slowness".
The alpha particles, which are the slowest of the particles are moving at about 5% of the speed of light. Hell, even the normal gas particles of room temperature air are moving at about 1000 ft/second.
Not sure how you don't have a million subscribers! Your content is incredible!! I want to build one of these and show it to my children and friends! Fascinating stuff. Thank you!
I came across your channel when I was researching filament and carbide lamps for a project...just a suggestion but I would be very interested in a video in depth about search lights, especially on aircraft and ships
This was a brilliant discussion. Thank you!! You have an amazing ability to make complex things so simple. And you do not waste anytime in doing it with fluff. Again, superb!!
I remember building a cloud chamber in Cub scouts and let me tell you what it was a long long time ago in the 60s, and I truly enjoyed building it and using it and for a long time we kept carbon dioxide at the house so I could take and bring all sorts of rocks and things and pieces of metal that would sometimes give us the cloud chamber affect quite nicely. It was a fun time and taking it outside in the early evening we will get more showers of the particles from the cloud chamber.
I built one in high school in my kitchen. Pretty sure my parents thought I'd lost my mind until the particle trails began to appear. Now I'm in college studying nuclear engineering 😂
Excellent stuff, as usual, Gilles. For a number of years one of my jobs at Cavendish Labs here in Cambridge (UK) was as a scientific instrument maker. In the late-1990s myself and a colleague were tasked with making a (non-functioning) replica of the Wilson cloud chamber for a (London?) musuem (the original being in the Cavendish musem). I wonder if the still you showed of the Wilson chamber was that copy? It looks like it to me, as although we tried really hard to age the various parts some just ended up looking a bit too nice, particularly the rubber hoses (they were very perished on the original).
These are fun. I’ve built them with just a jar. Sport fishing shops usually have dry ice. Note that you can’t easily get 100% isopropyl alcohol. 99% is fine.
Quantum effects are seen several ways. I used to explain this in a science museum, (1) Alpha particle decay is modeled as quantum tunneling, a quantum effect. (2) The formation of the droplets in the chamber itself is via a quantum phenomenon, i.e. an air molucule undergoes a transient electrical field due to the charged particle traveling through the chamber and for a tiny fraction of such molecules this is enough to cause tunneling-like ionization forming a nucleus for condensation. The energy involved is a few electron volts, and you can take detailed photos of the ionization trail, count the droplets, and calculate how much envergy is lost by the particle. Combine this with a magnetic field that causes the particle to spiral and it is possible to calcuate the energy of the particle as well as the charge.
Cosmic rays can smack into semiconductors and change their charge state, and in computers, this often means a bit gets flipped that shouldn't be flipped. The odds that a cosmic ray will hit a target as small as a single desktop PC are pretty small. But when you start scaling up to rooms or entire buildings full of computers, impacting cosmic rays becomes a real issue. It's an even bigger issue with clusters of computers all working together on a single problem, like in a supercomputer. It's one of the reasons enterprise and HPC servers typically use memory that can check for single-bit errors and correct them on the fly.
7:41 that sate of affairs was why Geoffrey Chew created the term nuclear democracy suggesting an approach that I can roughly describe as getting rid of elementary particles. This led to S-Matrix theory and the bootstrap approach, although they fell is disfavor to other theories they inspired (in a broad sense) the string theory.
Btw. Americium is not contained in all modern smoke detectors. Americium detectors are still produced and sold, but they are being replaced by non-radioactive detectors, which use just LED diode and photodiode... So better read the description carefully, if you are buying smoke detector for the americium...
I built one and used it in my closet when about the same age as you. I'm not sure where I got the plans or theory, since I am 75 now, I have slept a few times since. I used a broken radium or tritium watch for a source, once again it was long ago.
Hi, great video! I was wondering (I have for a while) are all of the crazy spirals and paths that appear in cloud chambers caused by magnetic “interference”? Obviously apart from your example of muons branching. I would assume that all particles would have to move in a straight line. Or are there some particles that somehow change direction due to other phenomena? Thankyou
As far as I am aware, the spirals commonly seen in pictures of particle tracks in bubble chambers (cloud chambers are no longer used in actual research) are due to the chamber being subjected to a magnetic field so that the charge-mass ratio of charged particles can be determined from their curvature. Otherwise particles travelling through the detection medium will travel in straight lines (or in a zig-zag fashion as they ricochet off larger particles).
@@CanadianMacGyver thankyou! I just dabble in this sort of stuff till my head is full, so to speak, but that one’s been puzzling me for a while. Your answer has put my mind at rest lol 👍
Technically, time dilation isn't required for particles of short half-life to appear in the chamber at all. That's because half-life isn't an absolute life span, but a probability. If you want to prove time dilation to exist with a cloud chamber, you'd have to calculate how many particles are created, and from that, how many particles you would observe in a given volume and time span, with and without time dilation. Basically, the chance of a particle not decaying after one half-life has passed is 50%. The chance of it having passed another half-life is 25%. Another 12.5%. And so on. Given a sufficient number of particles, single particles easily live for orders of magnitude longer than their half-life.
18:25 interesting note on the time dilation on satellites Turns out they don’t use relativity to calculate that It’s just the speed of the satellite Unzickers channel has an interview with one of the creators of GPS It would be interesting to hear your take
I have the same question that another viewer asked, at least along the same line. Is the video of the chamber in real time? It seems hard to wrap my head around these very fast moving particles leaving these "slow" trails. Someone knowledgeable please explain!
I built one of these as a kid to in 1998 and my c word physics teacher said i bought it somewhere and wanted to fail me until i had everyone whod witnessed me building it sign a letter stating that yes he built it and you are an asshole.... not in so many words but it got the point across Side note mine contained the americium dot from a smoke detector, so it was the particle party bus
Hey just be careful not to accidently knock up a time machine there when you're messing about in the lab with all your gadgets because if you beamed back to the 1500s with all these awesome science demos you might get burnt as a witch! Actually, thinking about it, with all the flat-earthers and anti-vaxers about these days it's prolly even stevens, carry on sargent... :D
I can't believe you made this as a kid! I'm a fully grown adult with kids and I find this stuff beyond fascinating. I wish I had better science teachers as a kid but they just taught us to pass the tests. I'm so lucky to live in time or I can easily access this kind of great information online... Thanks to a great videos like yours!
My grand father thought I was super lucky to grow up in the 80s ..cause the 50s sucked..I think kids today are super lucky cause they grew up with internet..where as I, even tho a child prodigy, didn't get a computer till I was 14..and that had 20k ram. But now after thinking about it for 20 more years...I think that in general, the past Just sucked.
What always amazes me about cloud chambers is how slow everything's moving
You aren't seeing the particle, you see the condensation. And that condensation is already plenty fast. It's mostly the slow movement of air and the IPA vapors that produces the impression of "slowness".
The alpha particles, which are the slowest of the particles are moving at about 5% of the speed of light. Hell, even the normal gas particles of room temperature air are moving at about 1000 ft/second.
Not sure how you don't have a million subscribers! Your content is incredible!! I want to build one of these and show it to my children and friends! Fascinating stuff. Thank you!
Only learned of these as an adult but it blew my mind. Indirect ovservation of things we can't see is one of my favorite typed of experiments.
Great video, what a fascinating phenomenon. How do you only have so little views, this deserves so much more attention
VERY well presented. Thank you so much for all the effort you obviously invest in making your videos.
I came across your channel when I was researching filament and carbide lamps for a project...just a suggestion but I would be very interested in a video in depth about search lights, especially on aircraft and ships
I can certainly put that on my topic list, though I would have to find a museum that has a few examples for me to look at. Thanks for the suggestion!
This was a brilliant discussion. Thank you!! You have an amazing ability to make complex things so simple. And you do not waste anytime in doing it with fluff. Again, superb!!
I remember building a cloud chamber in Cub scouts and let me tell you what it was a long long time ago in the 60s, and I truly enjoyed building it and using it and for a long time we kept carbon dioxide at the house so I could take and bring all sorts of rocks and things and pieces of metal that would sometimes give us the cloud chamber affect quite nicely. It was a fun time and taking it outside in the early evening we will get more showers of the particles from the cloud chamber.
I built one in high school in my kitchen. Pretty sure my parents thought I'd lost my mind until the particle trails began to appear. Now I'm in college studying nuclear engineering 😂
Dear me, your home made cloud chamber is a revelation, stunning! Time dilation, jumping Jehoshaphats.
Excellent stuff, as usual, Gilles. For a number of years one of my jobs at Cavendish Labs here in Cambridge (UK) was as a scientific instrument maker. In the late-1990s myself and a colleague were tasked with making a (non-functioning) replica of the Wilson cloud chamber for a (London?) musuem (the original being in the Cavendish musem). I wonder if the still you showed of the Wilson chamber was that copy? It looks like it to me, as although we tried really hard to age the various parts some just ended up looking a bit too nice, particularly the rubber hoses (they were very perished on the original).
Fascinating
I make these every year with my students! Its the most fun when you add Cesium 137, Polonium 210 and Cobalt-60
AWESOME!!!
These are fun. I’ve built them with just a jar. Sport fishing shops usually have dry ice. Note that you can’t easily get 100% isopropyl alcohol. 99% is fine.
Im 69 yrs old and find this fascinating. I would like you to explain how quantum physics is related to particle behaviors
Right!? This is fascinating!!
Quantum effects are seen several ways. I used to explain this in a science museum, (1) Alpha particle decay is modeled as quantum tunneling, a quantum effect. (2) The formation of the droplets in the chamber itself is via a quantum phenomenon, i.e. an air molucule undergoes a transient electrical field due to the charged particle traveling through the chamber and for a tiny fraction of such molecules this is enough to cause tunneling-like ionization forming a nucleus for condensation. The energy involved is a few electron volts, and you can take detailed photos of the ionization trail, count the droplets, and calculate how much envergy is lost by the particle. Combine this with a magnetic field that causes the particle to spiral and it is possible to calcuate the energy of the particle as well as the charge.
@@stevejohnston3194 thanks for the reply, the whole theory of quantum tunneling is why cosmic rays will penatrate solid material except lead
Your trumpet playing is beautiful, sir
Just Fascinating ! !
Cosmic rays can smack into semiconductors and change their charge state, and in computers, this often means a bit gets flipped that shouldn't be flipped. The odds that a cosmic ray will hit a target as small as a single desktop PC are pretty small. But when you start scaling up to rooms or entire buildings full of computers, impacting cosmic rays becomes a real issue. It's an even bigger issue with clusters of computers all working together on a single problem, like in a supercomputer. It's one of the reasons enterprise and HPC servers typically use memory that can check for single-bit errors and correct them on the fly.
Now I finally get how that fighter jet cloud works...
7:41 that sate of affairs was why Geoffrey Chew created the term nuclear democracy suggesting an approach that I can roughly describe as getting rid of elementary particles. This led to S-Matrix theory and the bootstrap approach, although they fell is disfavor to other theories they inspired (in a broad sense) the string theory.
So interesting! Amazing!
Btw. Americium is not contained in all modern smoke detectors. Americium detectors are still produced and sold, but they are being replaced by non-radioactive detectors, which use just LED diode and photodiode... So better read the description carefully, if you are buying smoke detector for the americium...
I wanted to say that too, I've never seen radioactive smoke detectors here in Switzerland.
I built one and used it in my closet when about the same age as you. I'm not sure where I got the plans or theory, since I am 75 now, I have slept a few times since. I used a broken radium or tritium watch for a source, once again it was long ago.
That is so cool
I have wanted to build one of these things for a long time.
Da bekomme ich Lust eine Nebelkammer zu bauen 😊
Hi, great video! I was wondering (I have for a while) are all of the crazy spirals and paths that appear in cloud chambers caused by magnetic “interference”?
Obviously apart from your example of muons branching.
I would assume that all particles would have to move in a straight line.
Or are there some particles that somehow change direction due to other phenomena? Thankyou
As far as I am aware, the spirals commonly seen in pictures of particle tracks in bubble chambers (cloud chambers are no longer used in actual research) are due to the chamber being subjected to a magnetic field so that the charge-mass ratio of charged particles can be determined from their curvature. Otherwise particles travelling through the detection medium will travel in straight lines (or in a zig-zag fashion as they ricochet off larger particles).
@@CanadianMacGyver thankyou! I just dabble in this sort of stuff till my head is full, so to speak, but that one’s been puzzling me for a while. Your answer has put my mind at rest lol 👍
Technically, time dilation isn't required for particles of short half-life to appear in the chamber at all.
That's because half-life isn't an absolute life span, but a probability.
If you want to prove time dilation to exist with a cloud chamber, you'd have to calculate how many particles are created, and from that, how many particles you would observe in a given volume and time span, with and without time dilation.
Basically, the chance of a particle not decaying after one half-life has passed is 50%. The chance of it having passed another half-life is 25%. Another 12.5%. And so on.
Given a sufficient number of particles, single particles easily live for orders of magnitude longer than their half-life.
Looks like it’s time to build a cloud chamber! 😊.
18:25 interesting note on the time dilation on satellites
Turns out they don’t use relativity to calculate that
It’s just the speed of the satellite
Unzickers channel has an interview with one of the creators of GPS
It would be interesting to hear your take
I have the same question that another viewer asked, at least along the same line. Is the video of the chamber in real time? It seems hard to wrap my head around these very fast moving particles leaving these "slow" trails. Someone knowledgeable please explain!
i am not sure they still use radioactive elements in smoke detectors
😢😢😢😢😢Either you do not understand relativity or I do not understand relativity or both of us do not understand relativity.
I built one of these as a kid to in 1998 and my c word physics teacher said i bought it somewhere and wanted to fail me until i had everyone whod witnessed me building it sign a letter stating that yes he built it and you are an asshole.... not in so many words but it got the point across
Side note mine contained the americium dot from a smoke detector, so it was the particle party bus
Hey just be careful not to accidently knock up a time machine there when you're messing about in the lab with all your gadgets because if you beamed back to the 1500s with all these awesome science demos you might get burnt as a witch! Actually, thinking about it, with all the flat-earthers and anti-vaxers about these days it's prolly even stevens, carry on sargent... :D
11:00 I CHARGE $100 to take my picture like this every time, just fyi.
What the fuck is iserpropyl alcohol? ......
Isopropyl alcohol. And please don't drink it.