The Effectivity of Cloud Chamber in Detecting

the Stray Muon Particles.

Submitted to the Faculty of

STI College Surigao

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the

Senior High School Information Communication Technology (ICT) Strand

By:
Arrubio, Nica B.
Balibad, Christian P.
Bruzon, Nor Jhon J.
Cadaa, Joshua Elly E.
Jimenez, Nicolas Ivan B.
Pillado, Justine B.
Ramos, Rashiel Jane B.
Rodriguez, Christian D.
Talingting, Dan Quincy A.

October 2022
II. Table of Contents
Table of Contents ------------------------------------------------------------- pg. 1
Introduction ------------------------------------------------------------------- pg. 2
Concept Framework --------------------------------------------------------- pg. 3
Project Paradigm ------------------------------------------------------------- pg. 3
Definition of Terms ---------------------------------------------------------- pg. 4
Review of Related Literature ---------------------------------------------- pg. 4-5
Model Design ----------------------------------------------------------------- pg. 5
Model Description and Draft ----------------------------------------------- pg. 5
Material Cost and Description ---------------------------------------------- pg. 6-7
Material Allusion to Real Life Materials ---------------------------------- pg. 7
Theoretical Basis -------------------------------------------------------------- pg. 7
Simulation Basis -------------------------------------------------------------- pg. 8
References --------------------------------------------------------------------- pg. 9

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III. Introduction
Background of the Study
A cloud chamber is a closed environment that contains a supersaturated vapor of water or
alcohol. An energetic charged particle (such as an alpha or beta particle) interacts with the
mixture of gases by knocking electrons off gas molecules during collisions, resulting in a trail of
ionized gas particles. If such gas combination is at the point of condensation, the resultant ion act
as condensation centers, forming a mist-like trail of microscopic droplets. These droplets appear
as a "cloud" trail that lasts many seconds as they fall through the vapor. These tracks have
distinct forms. An alpha particle track, for example, is thick and straight, whereas a beta particle
track is wispy and displays more evidence of deflections.by collisions
The cloud chamber is one of the oldest particle detectors, and it led a number of discoveries in
the history of particle physics. It also was involved in two Nobel prizes!
Charles T. R. Wilson (1869 - 1959) Carl Anderson (1905 - 1991)
This Scottish physicist actually wanted to This American physicist discovered the
study cloud formation and optical positron in 1932 and the muon in 1936
phenomena in moist air. He discovered using a cloud chamber. He received the
soon, that by accident he had invented a Nobel Prize in 1936. His invention: He
particle detector. He perfected the first used alcohol instead of water to form a
(expansion) cloud chamber in 1911 and more sensitive mist.
received the Nobel Prize in 1927.

Wilson, C. T. R. (1912). On an Expansion

Apparatus for Making Visible the Tracks Anderson, C. D. (1933): The Positive
of Ionizing Particles in Gases and Some Electron. Physical Review 43, 491–494.
Results Obtained by Its Use. Proc. R. Soc. doi:10.1103/PhysRev.43.491
Lond. A. 87, 277-292.
doi:10.1098/rspa.1912.0081

The researchers aims to find out the effectivity of the Cloud Chamber in Detecting the stray
muon particles.

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1. Concept Framework
Figure 8.1 depicts the operation of a cloud chamber. Through a sudden expansion
process, a volume of saturated vapor enclosed in a vessel becomes supersaturated.
When ionizing radiation passes through such a supersaturated vapor, the vapor's
ionization serves as condensation nuclei. As a result, little droplets of liquid can be
seen along the radiation's course. These condensation trails have a short lifetime and
can be photographed through the chamber window. The density of the condensation
is determined by the projectile's ionization strength as well as the composition of the
vapor, which is frequently an alcohol or water. Figure 6.5 depicts pictures of cloud
chambers.

Figure 8.1. Principle of a cloud chamber

2. Project Paradigm
Developing Cloud Chamber with ICT 301
The result and outcome of the cloud chamber project, which aims to develop
a cloud chamber useful for science education is reported in detail. A project includes
both ICT 301 students and a teacher as a part of iLS in our school. We develop a dry-
ice-free cloud chamber using salt and ice (or snow). Technical details of
the chamber are described. We also argue how the project have affected student's
cognition, motivation, academic skills and behavior. The research project has taken
steps of professional researchers, i.e., in planning research, applying fund, writing a
paper and giving a talk in conferences. From interviews with students, we have learnt
that such style of scientific activity is very effective in promoting student's motivation
for learning science.
3. Project Hypothesis
The Cloud Chamber experiment illustrates that though particles cannot be detected
with the senses, it is possible to observe the result of the particles.

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 4. Definition of Terms
The cloud chamber had existed since 1895 when Wilson, pursuing his meteorological
interests, developed the instrument to determine the process of droplet formation in
clouds. Galison and Assmus have examined this early phase of the cloud chamber's
existence, rightly concluding that, with the production of tracks and their
photographic record, the instrument was radically transformed into a crucial tool of
the particle physicist. The cloud chamber in its present stage of development is not
suitable for photographic recording but is useful for demonstration purposes.

I. Review of Related Literature

An experimental cloud‐chamber, which can be oriented in any position, free from
leaks and with several other advantages, (Dahl, Hafstad 2016). The cloud chamber
has been one of the principal tools for investigating condensation phenomena and for
simulating natural cloud-forming processes. The cloud physicist commonly employs
expansion-, mixing- and diffusion-cloud chambers (he has yet to find a use for the
bubble chamber) for studying the spontaneous condensation of water vapor;
condensation upon ions and atmospheric particles; the production, nucleation and
crystallization of super-cooled clouds; the properties of ice-forming nuclei; and the
growth of ice crystals from the vapor, (Mason 2017). The Expansion type cloud
chamber controlled by an internal counter has been used to study the discharge
formed in the latter when operated.
The chamber cannot produce satisfactory ion tracks in the presence of too great an
average ion load. In the steady‐state operation of the present apparatus the normal
background ionization without shielding loads the chamber so close to its limit that
most tracks are diffuse. When first applying refrigeration there is a transient condition
in which many more tracks are well defined. There are several possible ways of
improving the steady‐state ion load capacity of the apparatus. Experiment shows that
this diffusion cloud chamber operates as expected, and with reasonable precautions it
is quite stable against turbulence. Successful operation depends on avoiding
production of condensation nuclei which will make a diffuse rain of condensation in
the chamber.

Diffusion cloud chambers are most commonly used in classroom demonstrations, and
are typically based on the cooling of saturated alcohol vapor with liquid helium or
solid carbon dioxide (dry ice). As high-energy particles pass through the cooled
alcohol vapor in the chamber, they ionize the vapor particles in the chamber. This
results in an ion pair (free electrons and ions). The vapor condenses readily around
the charged particles, leaving visible 'tracks'. This is similar to how clouds condense
and form around particles in Earth's atmosphere.
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In the past decade, there have been a variety of innovative and novel approaches for
optimizing cloud chambers for classroom teaching, including a fish tank cloud
chamber. Because procurement of dry ice can be a barrier to its use in the classroom,
several authors have focused on using more readily available coolants, such as cans of
compressed air, gel ice packs, and mixtures of salt and ice. Other authors have
focused on eliminating dry ice to extend operation times so that students can observe
tracks for longer periods, thus making cloud chambers more suitable for laboratory-
based instruction. This includes the sophisticated use of Peltier cooler modules and
chips to cool the base of the viewing chamber. (A. E. White 2020)

However, the elimination of the use of dry ice tends to create another potential barrier
for classroom use: the need for a radioactive source because chambers without dry ice
that were built and tested could not be used to reliably detect background radiation. In
the United States, radiation sources can be expensive and their use may be controlled
or discouraged in classroom settings. Some authors avoid the need for a radioactive
source by imposing an electric field; however, this introduces another potential
barrier.

II. Model Design

(US LHC Youtube Channel Model Design)

1. Model Description and Draft

This model of cloud chamber used

alternative materials such as zip ties,
baking tray, and cardboard box.
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2. Material Cost and Description
5 kg Dry Ice- P250
Solid carbon dioxide at -78°C
Read the safety instructions!!!
touching it directly will cause burns evaporating dry ice will enrich the air
with carbon dioxide
Only use in well ventilated rooms
dry ice in airtight containers will build up high pressure

1 Plastic Container- P139

Clear, see-through box-like plastic container with an open top
roughly 20 x 30 x 15cm

1 Ziptie-P45
a thick felt (few mm) to be attached to the bottom of the plastic box

1 Isopropyl Alcohol- P40

Pure (>90%) isopropyl alcohol
Read the safety instructions!!!
Keep away from children never drink it, handle with gloves and goggles

Protective Equipment
 2 Protective safety goggles
 5 Protective Gloves
To handle isopropanol and dry Ice it is necessary to wear personal
protective equipment
-safety goggles (for dry ice and Isopropanol)
- nitril protection gloves (for Isopropanol)
- leather protection gloves (for dry ice)
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Felt- P80
To attach the felt to the inside of the bottom of the box

Baking Tray-P380
To be placed on top of the dry ice (good heat conductivity important) to
cover the open side of the container completely needs to be black and could
have little grooves matching the side walls of the plastic box (for isolation of
the air volume inside)

Flashlight- P80
a very intense, bundled light source

3. Material Allusion to Real Life Materials

As mentioned above this cloud chamber is basically an airtight container filled with a
mixture of air and alcohol vapor. Liquid alcohol evaporates from a reservoir and
spreads inside the chamber. Cooling the base with dry ice (carbon dioxide ice at a
constant temperature of -79 °C while subliming) you get an intense temperature
gradient along the vertical direction. In this way, a super-saturated alcohol vapor zone
is formed on the bottom. The sensitive layer is unstable: it has a quantity of cold
alcohol vapor greater than it can maintain. The condensation process is triggered with
the passage of the charged particle with enough energy to ionize atoms along its path.
These ions are the condensing cores around which liquid droplets form a trace.
4. Theoretical Basis
The theoretical description of diffusion cloud chambers is basically the theory of
phase transitions. Cloud chamber invention is credited to a Scottish physicist Charles
Wilson, who studied cloud formation in expansion cloud chambers. (i. e. cloud
chambers achieving required condensation conditions by gas expansion).
Precipitation of liquid droplets from vapour requires two basic factors. Saturated
vapour pressure at given pressure and temperature, and condensation nuclei.
Wilson observed that apart from dust or other solid particles, ions can serve as
condensation nuclei for droplets. Thus the theoretical basis of cloud chambers was
laid down. Cloud chambers are devices used to visualise particles of ionising
radiation. This radiation originates in decay of radioactive materials.
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5. Simulation Basis
A traditional cloud chamber must incorporate a steep temperature gradient. This is
created by means of dry ice (frozen CO2) and methyl alcohol inside a sealed
container made transparent so the particle trails can be viewed from outside.
The dry ice sits at the bottom of the chamber, and an absorbent pad saturated with
methanol is placed at the top. To see the particle trails it is necessary to shut off the
lights. The chamber is illuminated from the side–home project cloud chambers can
use a strong flashlight. You will see an incredible fast-moving display of particle
tracks.
The way a chamber works is when a particle passes through, it accumulates
condensation, in essence a visible cloud. What you are seeing, of course, is not the
infinitesimal particle, but the large vapor trail that has attached to it.

More specifically, the trail arises because of the many ions produced along the path of
the charged particle. These tracks have distinctive shapes. For example, an alpha
particle has a broad track and shows more evidence of deflection by collisions. A
track made by an electron is thinner and straight. Applying a uniform magnetic field
across the cloud chamber curves positively and negatively charged particles in
opposite directions, as described by the Lorentz force law with two particles of
opposite charge.
In particle and nuclear physics research facilities, particle detectors have evolved
considerably from Wilson’s simple cloud chamber. Besides gaseous ionization
detectors, there are semiconductor detectors including CCDs and scintillation
detectors. At CERN, for the Large Hadron Collider, dedicated detectors have been
built for specific projects, most notably in the great quest for the Higgs Boson.
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Reference:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/physics-and-astronomy/cloud-chamber
http://www.ep.ph.bham.ac.uk/twiki/bin/view/General/CloudChamber#:~:text=Cloud
%20chambers%20are%20used%20to,a%20particle's%20properties%20and%20identity.
https://www.science.gov/topicpages/c/cloud+chamber+technique.html
https://www.nuledo.com/en/#:~:text=Wilson%20observed%20that%20apart%20from,cloud
%20chambers%20was%20laid%20down.&text=Cloud%20chambers%20are%20devices
%20used,in%20decay%20of%20radioactive%20materials.
https://physicsopenlab.org/2017/05/05/cloud-chamber/
https://www.testandmeasurementtips.com/basics-cloud-chambers/
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