It's an Alpha! It's a Beta! It's a Gamma! No, It's Cosmic Ray!

Overview

Objectives/Goals The objective is to find whether cosmic rays are affected by magnets. Methods/Materials I built a cloud chamber using a jar, felt, dry ice, a pie tin, and 91% rubbing alcohol. A compass was used to determine the North and South magnetic poles, so I could line the magnet up with North. A large magnet and a ruler were also used during the experiment, so I could see the exact distance the magnet was from the could chamber. Results With no magnet, I counted an average of 16.6 cosmic rays. With the magnet zero centimeters away, I got an average of 8.6; with 1 centimeter, I found 9.2; two centimeters, I found 13.2; and with three centimeters, I found an average of 16.2 cosmic rays. Conclusions/Discussion My experiment shows that magnets have an altering affect on cosmic rays. My hypothesis is as follows: if a magnet decreases the number of cosmic ray events in a cloud chamber, then the closer I move the magnet, the fewer cosmic rays I should be able to detect. The data supports my hypothesis by showing that as I moved the magnet further away from the jar, I was able to count more visible cosmic rays within the cloud chamber.

Competition history

• CSEF 2008 Physics & Astronomy · Entry J1609

Resources

• CSEF project summary ↗

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