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Nuclear bullets from radioactive atoms make the tracks in a cloud chamber. They hurtle through the air, wet with alcohol vapour, detaching an electron from atom after atom, leaving a trail of ions in their path. Tiny drops of alcohol can easily form on these ions to mark the trail.

What causes the tracks in cloud chamber?

A cloud chamber is an enclosure containing a supersaturated vapor of water or alcohol. Radiation entering the chamber causes ionization, and these ions act as condensation loci around which tiny clouds are formed because the vapors are near a point of condensation. These nuclei leave tracks of the ionization.

Why are alpha particle tracks observed in a cloud chamber much shorter than beta particle tracks though they emerge from a radioactive sample with almost the same speed?

The Alpha particles have a big mass and charge of +2. This means they cause lot of ionisation in short distance. Each time it rips an electron it loses its energy and slows down a bit.

Why are the tracks left in a cloud chamber different for each type of radiation?

As electrons are much lighter than alpha particles, we see longer tracks. The unusual pattern is as a result of being bounced around by heavier air molecules.

What particles can be seen in a cloud chamber?

The charged particles which produce tracks in a cloud chamber are alpha and beta particles (from radioactive atoms), and protons and muons (from space). Alpha and beta particles come from radioactive materials in our environment: potassium, uranium and thorium in building materials and ground rocks.

What do alpha particles look like in a cloud chamber?

Alpha particles are groups of two protons and two neutrons i. e. helium nuclei. Alpha particles create shorter and thicker tracks in a cloud chamber. Rays of alpha particles are called alpha radiation.

How does a spark chamber work?

A spark chamber is a stack of conducting plates separated by a gas gap. When an energetic ionising particle passes through the device, a control circuit applies a high voltage between each pair of neighbouring plates. The voltage generates a spark between each of the plates.

Why do beta particles have a longer range than alpha?

This is due to the fact that for the same initial energy, β-particles have much greater velocity than have α-particles or protons because their mass is very much smaller than the mass of the heavy particles.

Which type of radiation is invisible for cloud chamber?

In a cloud chamber we “see” alpha and beta radiation the same way you “see” the invisible jet – by the condensation (cloud) trails left behind.

Which trails are caused by alpha particles?

An alpha particle will ionize most air molecules it passes close to, which is why it loses energy so quickly and has a short range in air. This is why the cloud trails are short and fat. The alpha particle has quite a big mass.