Wilson's cloud chamber, replica of Cavendish Lab apparatus
date: label: Date made
content: 1961 (original 1912)
label: date made
content: 1961 (original 1912)
name: label: originator
content: Wilson, C. T. R.
label: manufacturer
content: University of Cambridge. Department of Physics. Cavendish Laboratory
notes: label: Description
content: Wilson's cloud chamber, replica of Cavendish Lab apparatus, Object ID EM.N- 08016. Overall: height 71 cm x width 35 cm x depth 35 cm.
label: Description
content: A wooden frame supports, above, a wide glass cylinder (the expansion chamber). Extending to one side, below is a spherical glass vessel that can be evacxuated.
label: Description
content: Components: expansion chamber; evacuated chamber; piston; inlets to pumps, to manometer, and for cooling water; and connections for residual clearing field. All supported by body of instrument and supported on wooden stand.
label: Description
content: History and basic principle
label: Description
content: Particle detectors are of two types: “counters” and “chambers.” The former merely signal the fact that a particle has passed through (from which signal the energy or velocity of the particle can often also be obtained). “Chambers,” however, do not merely signal a transiting charged particle, but trace its path and—most important—the paths of any other charged particles emerging from collisions which it may undergo with matter filling the chamber.
label: Description
content: The first detector of the “chamber” type was the cloud chamber, devised in 1911 by C.T.R. Wilson at the Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge University, England. The tracks of charged particles are rendered visible by the condensation of water vapor about the ionized air molecules (nitrogen and oxygen) produced along the paths of fast-moving charged particles. The chamber is sealed and saturated with water vapor by the water in the trough. When the valve is opened by pulling to the left, the air under the piston rushes into the evacuated bulb. The piston drops suddenly, the air in the chamber is rendered super-saturated, and droplets of water condense about any ions present. The battery produces an electric field to sweep the chamber clear of ions after each expansion.
place: label: place made
content: United Kingdom: England, Cambridge
label: Associated Place
content: United Kingdom: England, Cambridge
topic: label: general subject association
content: Science & Scientific Instruments
label: general subject association
content: Modern Physics
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Modern Physics
label: See more items in
content: Science & Mathematics
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Cavendish Laboratory
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: EM.N-08016
label: accession number
content: 224580
label: catalog number
content: EM.N-08016
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Chamber, Cloud, Wilson
label: Object Name
content: chamber, cloud, Wilson (replica)
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: glass; copper; steel; wood; rubber (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: case: 71 cm x 35 cm x 35 cm; 27 15/16 in x 13 3/4 in x 13 3/4 in