littlebro05 wrote:In physics class today I was reading nuclear physics and came across the term of cloud chamber and automatically it clicked of BBMG. If people haven't already known I think a cloud chamber was where electrons bounce randomly and fly out some sort of tube into nuclear fission producing energy (I'm guessing, but really I don't know why I did physics since I got a D for it).
Not quite. A cloud chamber is a chamber containing a super saturated gas, meaning the gas should condense to form clouds but it doesn't.
When a high energy particle enters the chamber it triggers condensation along the particle's flight path. The tiny droplets of liquid allow the user to "see" the flight path of the particle.
Usually a cloud chamber is used to visualize cosmic rays and other naturally occuring radiation though they can be used with a radiation point source.
If the chamber is placed in a magnetic or electric field then the charge and mass of the atomic particle can be determeined based on how the track curves.