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Unit 7: Astrophysics Page 53
saturated with alcohol vapor. When negative charge, but 200 times
the alpha particles (cosmic rays) heavier than an electron). On a
zip through this portion of the jar, good day, your cosmic ray
they quickly condense the alcohol indicator will blip every 4-5
and create spider-webby vapor seconds. These galactic cosmic
trails. Try using a magnet to rays are one of the most important
deflect the cosmic rays. problems for interplanetary travel
by crewed spacecraft.
Experiment: Cosmic Ray
Detector Quantum Mechanics:
Double Slit Experiment
When high energy radiation strikes
the Earth from space, it’s called This stuff is definitely sci-fi weird,
cosmic rays. To be accurate, a and probably not appropriate for
cosmic ray is not like a ray of younger grades (although we did
sunshine, but rather is a super-fast have a seven year old reiterate in
particle slinging through space. his own words this exact
Think of throwing a grain of sand phenomenon to a physics
at a 100 mph… and that’s what we professor, so hey… anything
call a ‘cosmic ray’. possible! Which is why we’ve
included it here.)
Most cosmic rays zoom to us from
extra-solar sources (outside our This experiment is also known as
solar system but inside our galaxy) Young’s Experiment, and it
such as high-energy pulsars, demonstrates how the photon
grazing black holes, and exploding (little packet of light) is both a
stars (supernovae). We’re still particle and a wave, and you really
figuring out whether some cosmic can’t separate the two properties
rays started from outside our own from each other. If the idea of a
galaxy. If they are from outside ‘photon’ is new to you, don’t worry
our galaxy, it means that we’re – we’ll be covering light in an
getting stuff from quasars and upcoming unit soon. Just think of it
radio galaxies, too! as tiny little packets or particles of
light. I know the movie is a little
Cosmic rays have a positive goofy, but the physics is dead-on.
charge, as the particles are usually Everything that “Captain Quantum”
protons, though one in every 100 describes is really what occurred
is an electron (which has a during the experiment.
negative charge) or a muon (also a
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