image credit: Supersaturated Environments; image source; larger image

Hyperphysics: The Cloud Chamber

The thick tracks in this Wilson cloud chamber were made by alpha particles--helium nuclei--emitted by thorium atoms in the metal rod at the bottom of the image. To learn more, check out Hyperphysics: The Cloud Chamber.

To see the effect of a stronger alpha source, visit Alpha Particle Tracks from Nuffield's Practical Physics.

Login to Comment on this Item

Large Hadron Rap

Visit Large Hadron Rap to hear and see the Large Hadron Rap, written by Kate MacAlpine, press officer at CERN.

Search:

Advanced Search

Browse Physics To Go by Topic.

image © CERN; image source; (no larger image available)

The Large Hadron Collider

This image shows the profile of one of the two colliding beams in the Large Hadron Collider during its startup in September, 2008. When the machine is operational, the beam will be thinner than a human hair. For more about the LHC itself, go to The Large Hadron Collider.

(This feature was updated on December 30, 2013.)

The Standard Model of Particle Physics

Visit The Standard Model of Particle Physics and Guide to the Large Hadron Collider for BBC articles on the standard model of particle physics and how the LHC experiments will test it.

(This feature was updated on December 30, 2013.)