It's not essential PER SAY, but it makes things way brighter. On review of the footage I saw quite a few tracks when it was off, but the effect is night and day when you turn on the high voltage. I don't have a good reason for why it works as the explanations I've found don't make much sense. SO I just left it out, said it was essential and called it a day, because you'll enjoy the machine more with it on, so why bother turning it off. For an extra 3 dollars it's worth it.
@@thethoughtemporium the only explanation that makes sense to me, at the moment (my opinions are not writ in stone) are those proposed by the electric universe crowd.
For what it’s worth, this will make the alpha (helium ions positive ions) and beta particles (electrons) shoot up or down, along a curved trajectory, depending upon the direction and strength of the electric field. Beta particles will go up while alpha will go down, or vice versa (again, depending where ground is). Alpha particles will be mildly displaced as they are much heavier than electrons. The magnet will make those same particles spin. Again, alpha particles will be mostly unaffected unless the field is very strong (or you have a very large plate). Gamma particles (EM waves) are unaffected by either field and will always shoot in straight line. That is how they are differentiated. That is the same principle as used in bubble chambers. Not necessary. Just educational.
The Terrible Animator is that what you read? I read explicitly that alpha particles are heavier. Though I can see why somebody saying that would be worth calling out.
@@thethoughtemporium I have put uranium glass marbles in my mouth before to demonstrate to people who were scared of them. Honestly, its not like they are leeching uranium or anything, not at any appreciable rate. Now your chunk of americium IS scary to me. I've never had the guts to expose one that far.
You're quickly becoming my favorite youtube channel. You actually do the experiments that I've always talked about doing. I'm so appreciative of the inspiration and confidence you provide to actually just go buy the materials and do it.
As a molecular biologist who also has wide ranging scientific interests, I'm very pleased to see the mix of well done bioscience, physics, chemistry and DIY apparatus builds. This combination of breadth and depth are not often seen together. And many of his apparatus builds are extraordinary. I am seriously going to have to try to mod the scope in my home lab for fluorescence!
We use teds and pelier devices at work for reagent and reaction cooling. I can tell you from actual research data, you do not want to smear thermal compound on these things. Use as little as possible for good contact. I apply a thin layer to both sides then scrape it off with a plastic scraper. Excess coupound makes the thermal joint inefficient and can actually short out you peltier.
Man, I'm so happy that you want to disperse nuclear paranoia. I was always super excited about nuclear (not only does it save the planet it's SUPER COOL while doing it). And recently discovered what Elysium Industries is planning on doing which just reignited and amplified my excitement about nuclear all over again and convinced me that molten salt reactors are WAAAY closer to everyday use than they seemed to be previously.
I'm not in love with the molten chloride fast reactors. Chlorine has 2 isotopes that are reasonably usable in a molten salt reactor, but neither is capable of supporting a thorium based reactor. Thorium based tech is really what could save the earth and transform our society into an engineering society.
@@retovath That's what FLiBe salts will do. Those are expensive, there are political concerns, Hastalloy needs to be first licensed for nuclear use and most importantly it WILL need in-line chemical processing before it's economically viable. Thorium is certainly the future but it has a long way to go. What Elysium is proposing is a freaking trash can that makes 36 times as much energy from waste than what was produced from the pure product before it turned into waste. And as far as I've seen they can have the power plant running within a year if they get the nod. And there is PLENTY of Uranium everywhere ... even if you want to get it out of the sea for twice the cost you're still MUCH more cost effective than current nuclear reactors.
@@MrRolnicek MrRolnicek there are chemistry issues regarding the steels and chloride fuel salts. It's called a chlorine iron fire. Any chemical fuel salt is going to need a specialized alloy to deal with the possibility of corrosion reactions. This doubly applies to the MCFR design, as that material also has to be qualified to operate in a high flux fast neutron environment. Afaik, there is only one reactor that can qualify materials like that. It belongs to Russia. The US has another in development, but it's not yet ready. Truth be told any 4th gen nuke is great in my book, but I do play favorites with designs.
@@retovath Corrosion reactions? How can you get corrosion without oxygen or water or other oxygen containing molecules? Or are you talking about some other reaction?
I am a health physics tech and it always makes me happy to encounter someone who doesnt sensationalize radiation. That being said the lead foil is a bit overkill for shielding those sources I would be more worried about contamination controls at that point. Get yourself a watertight tupperware container with the rubber gasket under the lid, poly will shield all alpha and most beta. However, the lead wont hurt anything unless you have enough beta to worry about bremsstrahlung. Either way cool video I look forward to seeing more!
Exactly. The lead is really only needed for blocking gamma radiation, and gamma emitters aren't the isotopes one wants for cloud chambers since photons don't produce tracks. I worked with a lot of P-32 (high energy, very strong beta emitter) as a grad student and the standard shields we used were acrylic plastic and seal-a-meal bags of water. Plastic is actually a great shield for beta particles and doesn't produce bremsstrahlung x-rays the way that lead will. Ingestion is really the major danger from most beta emitters, and is the significant health danger from alpha emitters. I'm looking forward to see how things go when you try to add magnets. I keep seeing references to it being hard to get enough field strength for making betas and positrons spiral in basic cloud chambers, but I haven't been able to find any information on exactly what field strength to aim for. Let alone whether neodymium magnets or a big electromagnet is the way to get it.
A few years ago as the expression of gratitude, I build one for my physics teacher who has a PhD in radioactive stuff, it was firmly based on your video and she absolutely love it. We spoke a few days ago and she still brings it to her class and blasts it with gamma emitter, prior to that she had to borrow one from the science council but now she has on her own. I enclosed the power supply and wires in wood, and added the array of SPST toggle switches with guards for every electric subsystem to run (PC power supply on, the peltier device, high voltage etc.). She said that the moment she looked at it for a first time she thought it's been made by Rick Sanchez. I wouldn't be able to pull this project without your help, and big thanks for the bug zapper idea!
Well for a good reason too. Thermal compounds act as insulation in large amounts like that. It tells you that on their data sheets not to use it like exsive amounts or it could result in over heating.
using a large amount isn't a problem, since the 2 contact surfaces are typically clamped together. Any excess paste is squeezed out the sides by the clamping force. I'd expect it to get more viscous when heated - which might be why some people do a "burn in" cycle after installing a heatsink: To help thin the paste so the clamping force can squeeze more of it away & bring the mating surfaces even closer together. If you're using the thermal compound to conduct *cold temperatures* - then yeah that's indeed an interesting problem, it could make it less viscous. So you might thus want to be conservative with your paste application, and use a lot of clamping force.
You did a better job explaining peltier stacking than ANY computer channel ever has, Linus's crew couldn't figure this out. Love the information on your channel, so so broad yet so very acurate.
4:32 A squad of thermal paste application experts is closing in on your location. To be fair, you actually want it all to be in one blob as to avoid trapping air.
i literally came here to write that, but i saw your comment lmfao this dude acts like he knows everything about controlling temps, doesn't even realize the biggest flaw of his setup is the way he applied the paste. he probably would have only needed 2 of those pad things that get cold, id say the name but im too lazy to type out the long name lol but you get my point im sure
@@JayDillaThaKilla Please don't mistake composed style of presentation for pretending to be all-knowing. He's trying his best and don't we all make mistakes… Anyway, unlike the aforementioned squad, I'm not convinced this is "the *biggest* flaw" and make-or-break crux of the whole operation… But yes, air is more thermally capacitive rather than conductive.
@@MuradBeybalaev half my statement was sarcasm lol the part where i was serious (ish) was when i humorously said "the biggest flaw" making fun of the fact that if he properly applied paste, he wouldn't have needed 3 of those cooling pads lol but thanks for informing me, ill appreciate that :P
@@JayDillaThaKilla he almost certainly would have needed 3. These peltiers are not that effective as a heat pump unless you stack multiple of them, and even then it's diminishing returns.
As someone that collects and restores old Coleman lanterns and lamps, I have a stash of the older mantels made with thorium. I would love to give this a try sometime! I also do a lot of shopping in antique malls and estate sales so uranium glass is easy to come by. I will say that I wasn't aware that the older Fiesta Ware used a radioactive glaze. I will be careful with that stuff.
My school did that in small fish tank size for the whole 7th(maybe 8th) grade, it was amazing. They projected it on the wall and wow. Wow. You totally forgot what you were actually watching bc it was SO PRETTY What you're doing seems so much more complicated but maybe that's why 3 science teachers set it up
Thoriated tungsten electrodes are used in welding because the radiation from the thorium ionizes the shielding gas and makes the electric arc easier to strike. While still quite common, it is not used as often as it used to be. Back in the day, the welding machines were not sophisticated and it was difficult to strike an arc properly. Also, tungsten alloys have higher heat resistance than pure tungsten and the thoriated alloys were the first ones commonly available. This, and there is the modern perceived risk from the radiation. Yes, the risk is not zero, but I would be more worried about the tungsten poisoning than the radiation, but unless you are inhaling or ingesting electrode dust, (which you won't 'cause you aren't welding) the risk is practically zero. If you have a welding shop in town, specifically one with an old guy in it, ask around for some thoriated electrode ends. You see, as the electrode wears from use and sharpening, it gets shorter and shorter until it is too short to be held in the gun, just like a pencil. The kind of welding that uses these electrodes is called "TIG" welding, which is more common in high end production, such as a fab(rication) shops, aerospace manufacturing, high end custom car or racing shops. Thoriated electrodes tend to be used by old timers as that is what they learned with, and nothing else is meaningfully better anyway.
Sorry for the bombardment of comments. I failed to also point out how awesome this video is. I recall an Ontario circucullim txt book for physics having a picture on the cover that must have been from a cloud chamber. I asked a teacher about it. But of course they know nothing and were not able to tell me what it was capturing. Fast forward 17 years. Thanks TE and RUclips.
Not every dark thermal paste has metal in it. That's probably some cheap TP. My point was clear, the application of TP was fine and a better application would be irrelevant to the scope of this experiment.
Wow, I love this kind of project about radiation. I saw one (very large) of these chambers in a museum when I was a kid and always wonder how it works and if it was possible to make on my own. Can't wait for the other videos.
Hey you, you're finally awake. You were trying to cross the border, right? Walked right into that Imperial ambush, same as us, and that thief over there.
I've been subscribed to you but found this video after watching a recommended video and searching "visualizing radioactivity". I've always seen radioactivity portrayed as this magical thing, and nobody ever seems to explain it. ty
@@mattiasfagerlund Yeah, I wonder if that was the thing that scared away Canyon. Funny to see her in her latest video because I think it's the first time I've seen her with makeup on. She's very pretty.
A bit of a beast to run unless the glass is double glazed and everything that doesn't need airflow is insulated to high heck. That said it would be cool as heck, even a side table sized one would be awesome
combating nuclear energy fear mongering and saying it's the only way to save the Earth from a slow painful death? you just got a new subscriber my good man
@@MagnetechSolidSolutions I want to see the off shore Thorium salt reactor ship get good publicity so we can employ them as power plants which can transmute/consume the nuclear waste products of Uranium plants through the Thorium fuel cycle. Turn all that waste and turn it into more fuel!
Nice video, To improve the dissipation I would not use that type of heatsink with heat pipes in that configuration, these work with a liquid inside, and the way you have it arranged the liquid is in the bottom (without direct contact to the source of heat) so when the heat reaches the alcohol it evaporates and and dissipates in the heat source, those heatsinks work better if the heat source is in bottom, I love your chanel
Those pipes have channels or a porous fill that wicks liquid so it covers the entire inner surface. Proper orientation makes them a bit more efficient, but they will still work.
Thanks, I've always wanted to build one of these too. FWIW my local Air Liquide Canada Store sells dry ice pellets for media blasting to anyone walking in off the street. For a small cooler full it's around $25-$40. Sometimes cheaper on Friday since it won't last. I'm sure there's better prices out there but you should find at least one welding place selling it in any medium sized industrial park carrying it.
Live in the US here and I have only seen dry ice at the grocery store once, around Halloween around a decade ago. If I recall I think you can also get dry ice from a welding supply shop. I know you can get liquid co2 but I don't specifically remember dry ice.
1971 visited Brookhaven National Lab and was able to see a Bubble Chamber. That got me started on building my own cloud chamber with some dry ice. A wonderful project and simple.
I have been watching your videos, and I can't stop but think, if you were some old professor with white hair growing all over your face, the Pulitzer would have recognized you and give you an award for most of your breakthroughs.
Thats so cool! We build one in school with 15 of these Peltier-Elements and a surface of an A4 sheet. (-35°C) It worked way better than we expected. (even catching a ton of cosmic rays) Your Collection of Radioactives seems decent, i'm looking forward for your future vids!
“If I can do my part to show it's not as scary as it's made out to be, great." Thank you for helping stop the feelings-based fear mongering vis-a-vis nuclear energy production!
Please, watch some tutorials where they teach you how to apply thermal compound. The way you did it, makes it very inefficient to transfer heat. There's way too bulky layer of the compund and also air bubble due to how you applied it.
No, it really doesn't make much difference. Maybe 1-2C. There's plenty videos where it is demonstrated that over use of thermal paste does not make as dramatic of a difference as most people think.
@@Sevendogtags it actually does. Pluse he doesnt have this under 200lbs of force pushing those plates together. This is a horrible way to apply it and exstreamly wasteful. Hell you could have used a credit card to apply it evenly. Those air pockets well also causes less heat transfer because air isnt as good as a conducter of heat as that artic silver is. Im not hating on him for it but he needs to understand and do 5 minutes of google searching or just read the side of the tube on how too properly apply it. Even if its not a cpu, use the paste the same way as you would for one.
^what he said. ALSO it got to temp. So it literally doesn't matter. Getting beyond -26 is really all that's needed, I just shot for a few degrees past so I had some buffer. But the system has no issue getting to temp within about a minute or two. Also, I chose silver based thermal compound for a reason. It's very good at conducting the heat even with a bit of uneven-ness.
What you all seem to be missing is the question "What is the application?" He is not attempting to keep a CPU cool to prevent it from burning up or going into thermal throttling... he is using it as an easily permeable thermal layer to let the peltier devices work better... there was no "absolute need" for optimal thermal conductivity since he was easily able to reach the desired target temperatures and was not fighting against a virtual furnace driving the temperature up... while you may be correct for the heat based application you are describing, it doesn't mean much at all for what he was doing and your snarky commentary proves that you actually have less of a clue than you think you do... It's like saying that *THIS WAY* is the optimum and only way to cook and eat a burger and therefore must *ALWAYS* be done this way, even if it is actually a hot dog one is making... Let those who have studied and practiced science deal with the science rather than being a video watching armchair computer technician giving unasked for advice based on a different field or IT.
@@thethoughtemporium You are absolutely right about the required temp and that in this use case the badly applied thermal paste didn't really matter. However you have absolutely wrong way to think about this. To control the temperature you have to use methods that you can actually control. That is the applied power in the cooling pads in this case. The air pockets in the thermal compound that you have no way to contol of is absolutely wrong way to add any variables to the experiment regardless of the use case.
I remember we building one of these at school. Though we used dry ice for ours. Dry ice is not really something you buy from you local store however so I was interested in your solution that used a Peltier device. I find the Peltier device pretty interesting. This did not disappoint. ^_^
Hey Justin, Just some note on your poster on teespring "measuring plancks constant". You misspelled one of the words in the topleft section. I've unfortunately realized this after ordering, but for the future buyers maybe good to change it?
I've wanted to make a cloud chamber for years. But, I live in Australia, and dry ice isn't the easiest to come by. This is an awesome guide. Thank you!
I recently made a chamber with tec1-12706(1pcs), and 1,5mm plastic walls. The peltier handles the ethanol well, so I used that for the base directly. Radiation-trails starts appearing within 20 seconds. I didn’t need to use Americium, as there is plenty radiation in the air already (some of it is Radon). What helps alot is adding a piece of cloth to the top of the chamber, saturated in ethanol, heated by another peltier. Really gets the chamber going..
No voltages in my chamber by the way. Just peltier and isopropanol. Edit: I will also add here that I mix in a tiny bit of water into the chamber, in case someone wants to try.
I love how retrofuturistic the thing looks with the cooling apparatus. I don't know if there's a term for the nuclear version of cyberpunk (atompunk?) but devices like this have it in spades.
nice design - I had planned something like this forever, but now I got some good ideas. You should be able to get a continuous alcohol circulation if you try to make a capillary connection between the liquefied alcohol at the bottom back to the reservoir at the top...
thats a monster peltier cooler , My science teacher made a cloud chamber when I was in 6th grade and it was the coolest thing Ive ever seen , no pun intended. to get the best results though you need a chunk of uranium ore. the beta particles are so cool with their spirals
"The same cheap peltier cooling units that you use to keep your CPU cool" - I've built datacenters for 17 years and PCs for even longer and i've never once seen a peltier device *anywhere* in the stack of cooling devices.
They are also hilariously inefficient, like 13% efficient, so they generate WAY more heat then they move from the cold side to the hot side, this means a very high wattage peltier and a massive heat-sink would be necessary to cool an overclocked gaming CPU, which is the only reason you would want to supercool a CPU anyway. A more normal refrigeration system is usually used for this purpose since it's several times more efficient, and it's much easier to get rid of the heat, a sterling cooler would also work since it's also several times more efficient, and better at producing large temperature differentials, but useful sterlings are much harder to get than a refrigeration compressor, so.
I really hope people warm up to nuclear energy soon, even if the US only raised its nuclear output to, say, 30-40% of the total power used, the amount of carbon kept out of the atmosphere would be astronomical
Totally agree. The number of deaths per kWh is pretty damn low compared to the very accepted coal, and while building one reactor is ridiculously expensive, building 10 of the same type gets cheaper and cheaper.
@@mfbfreak it's the lowest death per energy out of everything... Including solar and wind But there is nuclear waste, bad decisions and a general fear of nuclear The new green energy corporation are also attacking nuclear as not the best...
@@mamupelu565 today it's actually the "renewable energy" corporations trying to demonize nuclear It's a viable against them, they are in today's society stronger and big oil can't argue that much if the facts, while they can do is lobby
I ❤️ nuclear fusion. I am not even science student done graduation with business administration but now intreasted in nuclear science. Reading and learning basics physics with mathematics with nuclear science apart from my business.
I wouldn't mind you using hot glue and figuring stuff out as you go but man you have 3d printers and cncs look at the build quality of this vs the build quality of the cold plasma torch but i guess i can't complain since this way you can finish videos faster ... , nice work regardless !
Thank you, this video helped me sooooo much with my cloud chamber project and presentation for college... I learned so much from your vid! thanks again!
@@UNSCPILOT That's precisely the point though. If people understand radioactivity is all around us, they would probably be more open to pushing for nuclear power.
chances are it wouldn't be radioactive enough to notice a visible difference. You can really only tell that it's radioactive via gamma spectroscopy, or burying a highly sensetive Geiger counter in bananas.
5 лет назад
Running those TECs at their rated power also calls for some pressure to be maintained on the modules. Their datasheets provides the needed pressure but you could just use four spring between the plate and the heatsink to clamp the modules with about one kilogram of total force. The magnetic forces caused by the current tends to push the conductors and ceramic plates apart. Not much but enough to cause the semiconductor crystals to crack and fail prematurely. It will also squeeze the thermal paste and thin it down, increasing heat transfer.
You should check some old radioactive lenses. Mostly the Takumar 50mm and 55mm lenses. (the names vary, smc takumar, super takumar, super multy coated takumar etc. ) The front-lenses are emits 5 OR 20-22 μSv/h, depend on the randomness of the thorium-content of the protective layer on it. (there are "radioactive lenses" out there, that uses lanthanum ore else, those are produce only 0,4-0,6 μSv/h or even less.
I have to strongly disagree with you regarding what you said about the new Chernobyl show. The HBO TV series clearly shows the incident was caused by cockiness becoming a form of substitute for management, corrupt and arrogant people being in high places of power and cutting corners in every possible places to save money. This resulted in massive lies and secrets. When nuclear energy is in the hands of honest and responsible people, it's pretty safe and generates no polluting exhaust fumes.
I just want to let you know that I know a professional nuclear engineer who uses your video to make a cloud chamber and teach furet nuclear engineers about radiation Thanks for your work
You can quickly remove the entire Am "button" out of a smoke detector without cutting. it leaves a nice window with a non radioactive case. Very safe and easy to handle for experiments. The source is inset far enough that it is impossible to touch the source with your fingers. Just my 2 cents. Great vid.
Why the high voltage? Lots of other clouds chambers I've seen didn't use them, but here it seems essential to get the effect.
It's not essential PER SAY, but it makes things way brighter. On review of the footage I saw quite a few tracks when it was off, but the effect is night and day when you turn on the high voltage. I don't have a good reason for why it works as the explanations I've found don't make much sense. SO I just left it out, said it was essential and called it a day, because you'll enjoy the machine more with it on, so why bother turning it off. For an extra 3 dollars it's worth it.
@@thethoughtemporium the only explanation that makes sense to me, at the moment (my opinions are not writ in stone) are those proposed by the electric universe crowd.
For what it’s worth, this will make the alpha (helium ions positive ions) and beta particles (electrons) shoot up or down, along a curved trajectory, depending upon the direction and strength of the electric field. Beta particles will go up while alpha will go down, or vice versa (again, depending where ground is). Alpha particles will be mildly displaced as they are much heavier than electrons.
The magnet will make those same particles spin. Again, alpha particles will be mostly unaffected unless the field is very strong (or you have a very large plate).
Gamma particles (EM waves) are unaffected by either field and will always shoot in straight line.
That is how they are differentiated. That is the same principle as used in bubble chambers.
Not necessary. Just educational.
@@TotallyFred wait, how are alphas lighter than electrons?
The Terrible Animator is that what you read? I read explicitly that alpha particles are heavier. Though I can see why somebody saying that would be worth calling out.
It's amazing how you make serious science easily accessible.
Thank you.
"Don't lick Uranium" some quality advise to be fair
It's on the list of "things you didn't think you needed to say, but here we are, having to say it"
The waterjet channel will not obey.
Quality meme
@@thethoughtemporium I have put uranium glass marbles in my mouth before to demonstrate to people who were scared of them. Honestly, its not like they are leeching uranium or anything, not at any appreciable rate. Now your chunk of americium IS scary to me. I've never had the guts to expose one that far.
Words to live by
You're quickly becoming my favorite youtube channel. You actually do the experiments that I've always talked about doing. I'm so appreciative of the inspiration and confidence you provide to actually just go buy the materials and do it.
As a molecular biologist who also has wide ranging scientific interests, I'm very pleased to see the mix of well done bioscience, physics, chemistry and DIY apparatus builds. This combination of breadth and depth are not often seen together. And many of his apparatus builds are extraordinary. I am seriously going to have to try to mod the scope in my home lab for fluorescence!
We use teds and pelier devices at work for reagent and reaction cooling. I can tell you from actual research data, you do not want to smear thermal compound on these things. Use as little as possible for good contact. I apply a thin layer to both sides then scrape it off with a plastic scraper. Excess coupound makes the thermal joint inefficient and can actually short out you peltier.
Man, I'm so happy that you want to disperse nuclear paranoia.
I was always super excited about nuclear (not only does it save the planet it's SUPER COOL while doing it).
And recently discovered what Elysium Industries is planning on doing which just reignited and amplified my excitement about nuclear all over again and convinced me that molten salt reactors are WAAAY closer to everyday use than they seemed to be previously.
I'm not in love with the molten chloride fast reactors. Chlorine has 2 isotopes that are reasonably usable in a molten salt reactor, but neither is capable of supporting a thorium based reactor. Thorium based tech is really what could save the earth and transform our society into an engineering society.
@@retovath That's what FLiBe salts will do. Those are expensive, there are political concerns, Hastalloy needs to be first licensed for nuclear use and most importantly it WILL need in-line chemical processing before it's economically viable. Thorium is certainly the future but it has a long way to go.
What Elysium is proposing is a freaking trash can that makes 36 times as much energy from waste than what was produced from the pure product before it turned into waste. And as far as I've seen they can have the power plant running within a year if they get the nod.
And there is PLENTY of Uranium everywhere ... even if you want to get it out of the sea for twice the cost you're still MUCH more cost effective than current nuclear reactors.
@@MrRolnicek MrRolnicek there are chemistry issues regarding the steels and chloride fuel salts. It's called a chlorine iron fire. Any chemical fuel salt is going to need a specialized alloy to deal with the possibility of corrosion reactions. This doubly applies to the MCFR design, as that material also has to be qualified to operate in a high flux fast neutron environment. Afaik, there is only one reactor that can qualify materials like that. It belongs to Russia. The US has another in development, but it's not yet ready.
Truth be told any 4th gen nuke is great in my book, but I do play favorites with designs.
@@retovath Corrosion reactions? How can you get corrosion without oxygen or water or other oxygen containing molecules? Or are you talking about some other reaction?
man, what a coincidence, I've been talking to Ed Pheil of Elysium online recently
I am a health physics tech and it always makes me happy to encounter someone who doesnt sensationalize radiation. That being said the lead foil is a bit overkill for shielding those sources I would be more worried about contamination controls at that point. Get yourself a watertight tupperware container with the rubber gasket under the lid, poly will shield all alpha and most beta. However, the lead wont hurt anything unless you have enough beta to worry about bremsstrahlung. Either way cool video I look forward to seeing more!
Exactly. The lead is really only needed for blocking gamma radiation, and gamma emitters aren't the isotopes one wants for cloud chambers since photons don't produce tracks. I worked with a lot of P-32 (high energy, very strong beta emitter) as a grad student and the standard shields we used were acrylic plastic and seal-a-meal bags of water. Plastic is actually a great shield for beta particles and doesn't produce bremsstrahlung x-rays the way that lead will. Ingestion is really the major danger from most beta emitters, and is the significant health danger from alpha emitters.
I'm looking forward to see how things go when you try to add magnets. I keep seeing references to it being hard to get enough field strength for making betas and positrons spiral in basic cloud chambers, but I haven't been able to find any information on exactly what field strength to aim for. Let alone whether neodymium magnets or a big electromagnet is the way to get it.
A few years ago as the expression of gratitude, I build one for my physics teacher who has a PhD in radioactive stuff, it was firmly based on your video and she absolutely love it. We spoke a few days ago and she still brings it to her class and blasts it with gamma emitter, prior to that she had to borrow one from the science council but now she has on her own. I enclosed the power supply and wires in wood, and added the array of SPST toggle switches with guards for every electric subsystem to run (PC power supply on, the peltier device, high voltage etc.). She said that the moment she looked at it for a first time she thought it's been made by Rick Sanchez. I wouldn't be able to pull this project without your help, and big thanks for the bug zapper idea!
clever use of a peltier plate, more sustainable than dry ice
i think you just triggered every pc enthusiast watching your videos with the thermal paste application/waste
Thought the exact same haha
Well for a good reason too. Thermal compounds act as insulation in large amounts like that. It tells you that on their data sheets not to use it like exsive amounts or it could result in over heating.
@@goldenfox334 but a thermal pase is supposed to be thermally conductive??? Like do what it's supposed to do, you know, TRANSFER HEAT???
using a large amount isn't a problem, since the 2 contact surfaces are typically clamped together. Any excess paste is squeezed out the sides by the clamping force.
I'd expect it to get more viscous when heated - which might be why some people do a "burn in" cycle after installing a heatsink: To help thin the paste so the clamping force can squeeze more of it away & bring the mating surfaces even closer together.
If you're using the thermal compound to conduct *cold temperatures* - then yeah that's indeed an interesting problem, it could make it less viscous. So you might thus want to be conservative with your paste application, and use a lot of clamping force.
Steven, modern thermal pastes are not electrically conductive.
I have managed to setup my oyster mushroom production facilities. Almost exclusively inspired by your eccelent video.
Thank you
Shitake or the fun stuff?
Man, imagine oysters that make you trip.. You're a genius !!
You did a better job explaining peltier stacking than ANY computer channel ever has, Linus's crew couldn't figure this out. Love the information on your channel, so so broad yet so very acurate.
Ahh, Cold Plate
My favorite band!
4:32 A squad of thermal paste application experts is closing in on your location.
To be fair, you actually want it all to be in one blob as to avoid trapping air.
Lmfao
i literally came here to write that, but i saw your comment lmfao this dude acts like he knows everything about controlling temps, doesn't even realize the biggest flaw of his setup is the way he applied the paste. he probably would have only needed 2 of those pad things that get cold, id say the name but im too lazy to type out the long name lol but you get my point im sure
@@JayDillaThaKilla Please don't mistake composed style of presentation for pretending to be all-knowing. He's trying his best and don't we all make mistakes…
Anyway, unlike the aforementioned squad, I'm not convinced this is "the *biggest* flaw" and make-or-break crux of the whole operation…
But yes, air is more thermally capacitive rather than conductive.
@@MuradBeybalaev half my statement was sarcasm lol the part where i was serious (ish) was when i humorously said "the biggest flaw" making fun of the fact that if he properly applied paste, he wouldn't have needed 3 of those cooling pads lol but thanks for informing me, ill appreciate that :P
@@JayDillaThaKilla he almost certainly would have needed 3. These peltiers are not that effective as a heat pump unless you stack multiple of them, and even then it's diminishing returns.
don't lick uranium? you should have said that before I ...
...passed some radioactive gass and killed the dog.
Do you taste metal?
radiation isn't that dangerous
Typed three dots?
Dead
As someone that collects and restores old Coleman lanterns and lamps, I have a stash of the older mantels made with thorium. I would love to give this a try sometime! I also do a lot of shopping in antique malls and estate sales so uranium glass is easy to come by. I will say that I wasn't aware that the older Fiesta Ware used a radioactive glaze. I will be careful with that stuff.
My school did that in small fish tank size for the whole 7th(maybe 8th) grade, it was amazing.
They projected it on the wall and wow. Wow. You totally forgot what you were actually watching bc it was SO PRETTY
What you're doing seems so much more complicated but maybe that's why 3 science teachers set it up
i love your safety advice, it's so casual and jokey compared to the intensity of some other sciency folks
Thoriated tungsten electrodes are used in welding because the radiation from the thorium ionizes the shielding gas and makes the electric arc easier to strike. While still quite common, it is not used as often as it used to be. Back in the day, the welding machines were not sophisticated and it was difficult to strike an arc properly. Also, tungsten alloys have higher heat resistance than pure tungsten and the thoriated alloys were the first ones commonly available. This, and there is the modern perceived risk from the radiation. Yes, the risk is not zero, but I would be more worried about the tungsten poisoning than the radiation, but unless you are inhaling or ingesting electrode dust, (which you won't 'cause you aren't welding) the risk is practically zero.
If you have a welding shop in town, specifically one with an old guy in it, ask around for some thoriated electrode ends. You see, as the electrode wears from use and sharpening, it gets shorter and shorter until it is too short to be held in the gun, just like a pencil. The kind of welding that uses these electrodes is called "TIG" welding, which is more common in high end production, such as a fab(rication) shops, aerospace manufacturing, high end custom car or racing shops. Thoriated electrodes tend to be used by old timers as that is what they learned with, and nothing else is meaningfully better anyway.
Sorry for the bombardment of comments. I failed to also point out how awesome this video is. I recall an Ontario circucullim txt book for physics having a picture on the cover that must have been from a cloud chamber. I asked a teacher about it. But of course they know nothing and were not able to tell me what it was capturing. Fast forward 17 years. Thanks TE and RUclips.
This channel is super underrated
you gained my inscription with the part of nuclear can save the world.
If you want to put the thermal paste better.
Place a single blob in the middle and let it spread so it dose not trap bubbles.
Eh, that's not really an issue for an experiment like this.
@@Sevendogtags 4:35 "the better job you do the better this will work" Eh, he said it :D
1 or 2 Celsius isn't going to be game changing here.
@@Sevendogtags Yes and using the silver stuff is an overkill. Your point?
Not every dark thermal paste has metal in it. That's probably some cheap TP. My point was clear, the application of TP was fine and a better application would be irrelevant to the scope of this experiment.
Wow, I love this kind of project about radiation. I saw one (very large) of these chambers in a museum when I was a kid and always wonder how it works and if it was possible to make on my own. Can't wait for the other videos.
step 1: open your eyes
step 2: see visible light
step3: ???
profit
Calzone Step 3: Make a YT video about it.
@@mephistovonfaust idk id maybe do IT someday
@@_rn_3861 Well... Thought Emporium already did
Hey you, you're finally awake. You were trying to cross the border, right? Walked right into that Imperial ambush, same as us, and that thief over there.
"Step 3" should be...
" Don't lick Uranium!"
Brilliant .. I’ve been wanting to do this for ages as I live somewhere where dry ice is scarce too. Thanks!
would be interesting to encase Chernobyl reactor 4 in one gigantic cloud chamber.
It would look like thousands of jets flew by and made condensation trails lol.
3.6 rontzen will do shit
I've been subscribed to you but found this video after watching a recommended video and searching "visualizing radioactivity". I've always seen radioactivity portrayed as this magical thing, and nobody ever seems to explain it. ty
So just to be sure, DO or DON'T lick uranium?
Yes
It's normally super safe to handle, unless you break it
or
lick uranium
as a non professional to be completely safe just don't be in hands reach of any of that stuff
Do
Don't lick uranium but eating a tide pod is ok.
Keep up the great work Justin! I am working on Monetary stuff and I will be back at it. Glad to see you persevering and doing what you love my friend.
this reminded me of Cody from cody'slab and his huge box of radioactive material
I was just thinking "He's the new, safer Cody."
And Cody had a visit from the authorities...
@@mattiasfagerlund Yeah, I wonder if that was the thing that scared away Canyon. Funny to see her in her latest video because I think it's the first time I've seen her with makeup on. She's very pretty.
@@johnpossum556 hol up... Cody bought a canyon and then his old canyon left him... oof F's in the chat
@@mattiasfagerlund yeah hes so naive.
I love this. Imagine having a big one as a coffee table in a cafe or bar. I know it sound dumb but what a cool art piece and conversation starter.
A bit of a beast to run unless the glass is double glazed and everything that doesn't need airflow is insulated to high heck.
That said it would be cool as heck, even a side table sized one would be awesome
combating nuclear energy fear mongering and saying it's the only way to save the Earth from a slow painful death? you just got a new subscriber my good man
It really is the only clean energy within our grasp. We need to further the technology and manage its waste. Idea(put it back where you got it from)
@@MagnetechSolidSolutions I want to see the off shore Thorium salt reactor ship get good publicity so we can employ them as power plants which can transmute/consume the nuclear waste products of Uranium plants through the Thorium fuel cycle. Turn all that waste and turn it into more fuel!
Just showed this to my daughter and we are going to build one for her science fair next year. And mainly because it is actually pretty cool looking.
Nice video, To improve the dissipation I would not use that type of heatsink with heat pipes in that configuration, these work with a liquid inside, and the way you have it arranged the liquid is in the bottom (without direct contact to the source of heat) so when the heat reaches the alcohol it evaporates and and dissipates in the heat source, those heatsinks work better if the heat source is in bottom, I love your chanel
Those pipes have channels or a porous fill that wicks liquid so it covers the entire inner surface. Proper orientation makes them a bit more efficient, but they will still work.
This shoujld work great copper+surface area
Thanks, I've always wanted to build one of these too. FWIW my local Air Liquide Canada Store sells dry ice pellets for media blasting to anyone walking in off the street. For a small cooler full it's around $25-$40. Sometimes cheaper on Friday since it won't last. I'm sure there's better prices out there but you should find at least one welding place selling it in any medium sized industrial park carrying it.
Thought Emporium: 'never take a smoke detector apart.'
Me: oopsie doopsie?
If they're the cheap light dispersion type rather than ionisation smoke detectors, go ahead and take them apart, no problem.
Or you can buy the isotope chamber on ebay. Cheap source of Am 241
I have two pieces of americium
@@vivimannequin that is something I didn't know I wanted to see
@@vivimannequin please show me that
Live in the US here and I have only seen dry ice at the grocery store once, around Halloween around a decade ago. If I recall I think you can also get dry ice from a welding supply shop. I know you can get liquid co2 but I don't specifically remember dry ice.
At about 14 minutes he says don’t lick the uranium doh oh no now he tells me LOL
Oops, you too? :-)
1971 visited Brookhaven National Lab and was able to see a Bubble Chamber. That got me started on building my own cloud chamber with some dry ice. A wonderful project and simple.
Great video as always, just want to let you know that i greatly enjoy your videos and always learn something new! Keep up the excellent work!
Cheers,
This video spooked me a little. This build is awesome
"Be safe, don't lick uranium and don't touch the cold bit while the machine is running" Advice for life I guess.
I have been watching your videos, and I can't stop but think, if you were some old professor with white hair growing all over your face, the Pulitzer would have recognized you and give you an award for most of your breakthroughs.
6:44 "I just use some black felt as my pad" haven't heard that one since middle school
Dying🤣🤣🤣🤣
Thats so cool! We build one in school with 15 of these Peltier-Elements and a surface of an A4 sheet. (-35°C) It worked way better than we expected. (even catching a ton of cosmic rays)
Your Collection of Radioactives seems decent, i'm looking forward for your future vids!
I ain't no pc enthusiast, but you built your peltier thing like you build a sandwich
I am really impressed of how much you know
I will never be able to achieve such levels of knowledge
“If I can do my part to show it's not as scary as it's made out to be, great." Thank you for helping stop the feelings-based fear mongering vis-a-vis nuclear energy production!
doing this was one of my favorite science fair projects
Cryogenic temperatures, high voltage and radioactive material? Seems safe to me
Safer than an angle grinder
Sounds like my hometown
I very much agree it's so cool to observe the empty chamber.
Please, watch some tutorials where they teach you how to apply thermal compound. The way you did it, makes it very inefficient to transfer heat. There's way too bulky layer of the compund and also air bubble due to how you applied it.
No, it really doesn't make much difference. Maybe 1-2C. There's plenty videos where it is demonstrated that over use of thermal paste does not make as dramatic of a difference as most people think.
@@Sevendogtags it actually does. Pluse he doesnt have this under 200lbs of force pushing those plates together. This is a horrible way to apply it and exstreamly wasteful. Hell you could have used a credit card to apply it evenly. Those air pockets well also causes less heat transfer because air isnt as good as a conducter of heat as that artic silver is. Im not hating on him for it but he needs to understand and do 5 minutes of google searching or just read the side of the tube on how too properly apply it. Even if its not a cpu, use the paste the same way as you would for one.
^what he said. ALSO it got to temp. So it literally doesn't matter. Getting beyond -26 is really all that's needed, I just shot for a few degrees past so I had some buffer. But the system has no issue getting to temp within about a minute or two. Also, I chose silver based thermal compound for a reason. It's very good at conducting the heat even with a bit of uneven-ness.
What you all seem to be missing is the question "What is the application?" He is not attempting to keep a CPU cool to prevent it from burning up or going into thermal throttling... he is using it as an easily permeable thermal layer to let the peltier devices work better... there was no "absolute need" for optimal thermal conductivity since he was easily able to reach the desired target temperatures and was not fighting against a virtual furnace driving the temperature up... while you may be correct for the heat based application you are describing, it doesn't mean much at all for what he was doing and your snarky commentary proves that you actually have less of a clue than you think you do... It's like saying that *THIS WAY* is the optimum and only way to cook and eat a burger and therefore must *ALWAYS* be done this way, even if it is actually a hot dog one is making... Let those who have studied and practiced science deal with the science rather than being a video watching armchair computer technician giving unasked for advice based on a different field or IT.
@@thethoughtemporium You are absolutely right about the required temp and that in this use case the badly applied thermal paste didn't really matter. However you have absolutely wrong way to think about this.
To control the temperature you have to use methods that you can actually control. That is the applied power in the cooling pads in this case. The air pockets in the thermal compound that you have no way to contol of is absolutely wrong way to add any variables to the experiment regardless of the use case.
Never ceases to amaze me
If you drink enough Vodka, you can see the radiation around Chernobyl
That's too obvious...😂
If you drink enough vodka you can see damn near anything.
I agree comrade, you see the lights too Da?
@@enderboy123me zvychayno!
But only if you sit on a block of dry ice
I remember we building one of these at school. Though we used dry ice for ours. Dry ice is not really something you buy from you local store however so I was interested in your solution that used a Peltier device. I find the Peltier device pretty interesting. This did not disappoint. ^_^
Hey Justin,
Just some note on your poster on teespring "measuring plancks constant". You misspelled one of the words in the topleft section. I've unfortunately realized this after ordering, but for the future buyers maybe good to change it?
Man, I thought I had broad interests in science... Your channel blows my mind every time! Facinating
The junkiest thing to ever combine radioactivity, cryogenic temperature, flammable gas and high voltage.
This is the coolest thing I've seen since the Falcon Heavy first flew. Love this video - thanks for sharing!
Amazing, maybe do talk about cosmic rays. Could you do a video about aerospike engines?
You have a nice sense of humor good sir. Subscribed.
Finally someone that understands that nuclear energy is the best way forward. :)
K9 nuclear waste
@@Apostate_ofmind what about it?
I've wanted to make a cloud chamber for years. But, I live in Australia, and dry ice isn't the easiest to come by. This is an awesome guide. Thank you!
That should be a shirt. "Dont lick uranium"
Does uranium come from Uranus?
I recently made a chamber with tec1-12706(1pcs), and 1,5mm plastic walls. The peltier handles the ethanol well, so I used that for the base directly. Radiation-trails starts appearing within 20 seconds. I didn’t need to use Americium, as there is plenty radiation in the air already (some of it is Radon).
What helps alot is adding a piece of cloth to the top of the chamber, saturated in ethanol, heated by another peltier. Really gets the chamber going..
No voltages in my chamber by the way. Just peltier and isopropanol. Edit: I will also add here that I mix in a tiny bit of water into the chamber, in case someone wants to try.
The best way to get thorium is the mineral thorite, you can buy thorite crystals online
for the safety warning, also the flammable alcohol vapor, so if something such as the high voltage, causes a spark, you can get an explosion
MAKE INVISIBLE RADIATION VISIBLE AGAIN!!!
I love how retrofuturistic the thing looks with the cooling apparatus. I don't know if there's a term for the nuclear version of cyberpunk (atompunk?) but devices like this have it in spades.
Atompunk is the nuclear derivative of cyberpunk and steampunk.
5 minutes in. Me: _"w.... cool but.. wh... whats a .... whats a "peltier"?"_
nice design - I had planned something like this forever, but now I got some good ideas. You should be able to get a continuous alcohol circulation if you try to make a capillary connection between the liquefied alcohol at the bottom back to the reservoir at the top...
Is it bad that I can build one of these by just opening one drawer?
HellishGrin460 no man I wish I was in the same boat as you right now I’m looking at a 100 dollar amazon cart balance
this must be one of the coolest inventions
just ask Cody´s Lab what goverment agencies might get really interested in your personal radioactive collection
I don't plan on extracting and purifying uranium, so I should be fine.
@@thethoughtemporium Also no jokes about building nuclear bombs I suppose
thats a monster peltier cooler , My science teacher made a cloud chamber when I was in 6th grade and it was the coolest thing Ive ever seen , no pun intended. to get the best results though you need a chunk of uranium ore. the beta particles are so cool with their spirals
"low high voltage"
soo... medium voltage?
also i've never seen a modern smoke detector that uses radioactive materials. most just use light
In Canada?
I prefer 'regular voltage' not medium
Awesome build, very quality
very ice, much cool
"The same cheap peltier cooling units that you use to keep your CPU cool" - I've built datacenters for 17 years and PCs for even longer and i've never once seen a peltier device *anywhere* in the stack of cooling devices.
also the fact he applied too much thermal paste probably states the fact he probably has never built a PC
They are also hilariously inefficient, like 13% efficient, so they generate WAY more heat then they move from the cold side to the hot side, this means a very high wattage peltier and a massive heat-sink would be necessary to cool an overclocked gaming CPU, which is the only reason you would want to supercool a CPU anyway. A more normal refrigeration system is usually used for this purpose since it's several times more efficient, and it's much easier to get rid of the heat, a sterling cooler would also work since it's also several times more efficient, and better at producing large temperature differentials, but useful sterlings are much harder to get than a refrigeration compressor, so.
They were actually used back in the day for a few years, around the Pentium 1 days. They were called "ice caps"
Cloud chambers are pretty awesome!
I really hope people warm up to nuclear energy soon, even if the US only raised its nuclear output to, say, 30-40% of the total power used, the amount of carbon kept out of the atmosphere would be astronomical
Totally agree. The number of deaths per kWh is pretty damn low compared to the very accepted coal, and while building one reactor is ridiculously expensive, building 10 of the same type gets cheaper and cheaper.
@@mfbfreak it's the lowest death per energy out of everything...
Including solar and wind
But there is nuclear waste, bad decisions and a general fear of nuclear
The new green energy corporation are also attacking nuclear as not the best...
@@mamupelu565 today it's actually the "renewable energy" corporations trying to demonize nuclear
It's a viable against them, they are in today's society stronger and big oil can't argue that much if the facts, while they can do is lobby
this is my new favorite channel on youtube
Noooooo!!! You want to use a MINIMUM of thermal compound between the coolers (in ALL applications actually).
I ❤️ nuclear fusion. I am not even science student done graduation with business administration but now intreasted in nuclear science. Reading and learning basics physics with mathematics with nuclear science apart from my business.
I swear you sound exactly like a more nasal 3Blue1Brown
Ive wanted one of these for a while. Your build looks really good.
in this video we will be covering how to:
Get frostbite
Get electrocuted and/or get 3rd degree burns
Get cancer/ radiation poisoning
Fun isn't it? :D
You have the link for (60w) also as thermal paste btw. Keep up the good work, you're quickly becoming one of my favorite RUclipsrs.
I wouldn't mind you using hot glue and figuring stuff out as you go but man you have 3d printers and cncs look at the build quality of this vs the build quality of the cold plasma torch but i guess i can't complain since this way you can finish videos faster ... , nice work regardless !
Thank you, this video helped me sooooo much with my cloud chamber project and presentation for college... I learned so much from your vid! thanks again!
lowkey triggered you didnt put a banana piece into the cloud chamber.
Wouldn't want to make people more paranoid
@@UNSCPILOT That's precisely the point though.
If people understand radioactivity is all around us, they would probably be more open to pushing for nuclear power.
chances are it wouldn't be radioactive enough to notice a visible difference. You can really only tell that it's radioactive via gamma spectroscopy, or burying a highly sensetive Geiger counter in bananas.
Running those TECs at their rated power also calls for some pressure to be maintained on the modules. Their datasheets provides the needed pressure but you could just use four spring between the plate and the heatsink to clamp the modules with about one kilogram of total force.
The magnetic forces caused by the current tends to push the conductors and ceramic plates apart. Not much but enough to cause the semiconductor crystals to crack and fail prematurely.
It will also squeeze the thermal paste and thin it down, increasing heat transfer.
Now my mom is not letting me licking uranium anymore... ;c
You should check some old radioactive lenses. Mostly the Takumar 50mm and 55mm lenses. (the names vary, smc takumar, super takumar, super multy coated takumar etc. )
The front-lenses are emits 5 OR 20-22 μSv/h, depend on the randomness of the thorium-content of the protective layer on it.
(there are "radioactive lenses" out there, that uses lanthanum ore else, those are produce only 0,4-0,6 μSv/h or even less.
What graphics card does it run?
and how many frames in crysis?
A Radeon, probably.
I never realized you were Canadian, hello from Saskatchewan!
I have to strongly disagree with you regarding what you said about the new Chernobyl show. The HBO TV series clearly shows the incident was caused by cockiness becoming a form of substitute for management, corrupt and arrogant people being in high places of power and cutting corners in every possible places to save money. This resulted in massive lies and secrets.
When nuclear energy is in the hands of honest and responsible people, it's pretty safe and generates no polluting exhaust fumes.
I just want to let you know that I know a professional nuclear engineer who uses your video to make a cloud chamber and teach furet nuclear engineers about radiation
Thanks for your work
Cringed at the ammount of thermal paste... lol, Love your vids, including this one, tho
And hot gluing a fan to a heat source
You can quickly remove the entire Am "button" out of a smoke detector without cutting. it leaves a nice window with a non radioactive case. Very safe and easy to handle for experiments. The source is inset far enough that it is impossible to touch the source with your fingers. Just my 2 cents. Great vid.