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Article: Seeing The Subatomic: With a cloud chamber, you can actually watch the subatomic radioactive particles all around you.(How 2.0: Hacks, Upgrades, Projects, Gripes, Tips & Tricks/Gray Matter)
- Article from:
- Popular Science
- Article date:
- March 1, 2005
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2005 Bonnier Corporation. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: Theodore Gray
Sometimes, in an alcoholic fog, I can see individual subatomic particles zipping by in front of my eyes. It takes pretty strong stuff to make this happen--pure 200-proof grain alcohol, denatured alcohol from the hardware store, or 100 percent isopropyl. Rum and vodka are too watered-down.
Before someone stages an intervention, I should mention that the alcohol is not in me, it's in a sealed case called a cloud chamber, which allows you to see, in plain sight, products of radioactive decay--the paths of zooming subatomic particles--in a dense fog of alcohol.
Cloud chambers work by creating a layer of supersaturated vapor: a ...