POTD: Cloud Chamber

Cloud Chamber
American Prairie Reserve, Montana
2021

Even though I did statistical work for several nuclear scientists for a number of years, my knowledge of particle physics is stunningly minimal. Still, when I saw these weld marks on a corral panel, for some reason my mind immediately thought “cloud chamber.” I believe that reaction was not due to my work with the physicists; rather it was the result of my mind going back to some bit I read or heard about in science class, probably in junior high school.

It turns out that most cloud chamber photographs have a black background and white streaks instead of the reverse as is shown here. That means, I suppose, that I’ve been having negative thoughts about cloud chambers all these years.

4 thoughts on “POTD: Cloud Chamber”

  1. When I was in Jr. High I was required to submit entries into our science fairs in 8th and 9th grades. One was something on photosynthesis and the other was a cloud chamber/ tornado maker. All I remember about them or the science was that I had to be careful handling the dry ice for the chamber. Since David Monroe was in my class, it was futile to think anyone else would win as he was a kind of Young Sheldon.

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