Teaching Radioactivity: Diffusion cloud chamber class experiment

The Taylor diffusion cloud chamber is a simple piece of equipment that will clearly show alpha-particle tracks. It is cheap enough to allow students, in groups, the opportunity to do their own experiment. They are fascinated by the tracks and watch them for a long time. This is something to be enjoyed and not hurried.
You can do this as a demonstration. However, students will prefer waiting for their own apparatus to produce results rather than yours. Also, if you have 8--10 groups of students, each with their own cloud chambers, you are more likely to get some results sooner or later.
For more information and the full suite of resources, visit iop.org/radioactivity

[@benaryder]

It might be sensible to tell students to add the dry ice before they insert the radioactive source, to avoid the possibility of the source coming out.

[@benaryder]

@@thomaslaparnestudenthbhs6439 I’m a time traveller. (Mostly I travel forwards in time at a rate of one second per second)

[@pvjokerxt26]

@@thomaslaparnestudenthbhs6439 the video was unlisted and made public again so the video is older but RUclips shows the time when it became public

[@user-xi4cs3gc6w]

May I ask what are the experimental instruments?

[@florinpetrache7834]

you use americium 241?

[@TheOpticalFreak]

Do you need ethanol or methanol!?

[@TheXone7]

Why did they wear safety glasses