Project Overview

Overview The Project(s) Goal Building Issues VERY VERY VERY Preliminary Planning

The Project(s) Originally one Project (started pushing for it in 1999) Split into three Sub-Projects The µCosm School Students’ Lab Microcosm Gardens UA1 Central Detector Display

Situation µCosm is located in building 143

Project 1

Goal Present modern physics – education in this direction is part of the CERN mandate. The School Students’ Lab will provide a hands-on lab area for visiting (school) students display and present modern physics to a more general public extend the educational programme

µCosm currently the complete building is used as exhibition space most platforms are made of concrete

µCosm School Students’ Lab – General Idea

µCosm School Students’ Lab – General Idea cont’d

What is a “school students’ lab”? In the recent past, many schools have faced the problem that out of financial reasons, only a very limited number of experiments could be acquired and performed in school. This lead to a wave of “school students’ labs”, where these experiments and even more modern ones are made available and can be performed together with the personnel there.

Prototype School Students’ Lab Activity standard school student lab activity is planned for 2.5 hrs standard ingredients: general and safety introduction 2 experiment blocks à 50 mins 5’ intro 40’ experiment 5’ discussion break of 15 mins between final discussion done in 3 experiments ×3 groups ×3 participants/group

Safety Considerations – Experiments Voltages nearly all experiments are made for schools according to the prevailing standards CRT vacuum glass tube Gasses LN2 dry ice propane Radioactive Material Rutherford  source in apparatus Cloud Chamber different sources , ,  Natural Radiation different sources , ,  different materials

Project 2

Microcosm Gardens

Project 3

UA1 Central Detector Display

VERY VERY VERY Preliminary Planning Now Collecting Issues Fall 2012 Clean up area in 143 Store UA1 Central Detector in 185 End 2012 Build partitioning wall Winter 2012 Install services Spring 2013 Install lab systems

X-Ray Experiments  X-Ray spectra  Material analysis  Radiography MediPix  radiation-tested by RP

Experiment – High T C Superconductor  Record the voltage drop across a superconductor with varying temperature.  Measurement by dipping a probe with superconductor and platinum resistor into a bath of liquid nitrogen.  Handling of nitrogen by presenter.  Handling of probe by students.

Experiment – Self-built Cloud Chamber  Visualize charged tracks.  dry ice for cooling  IPA (C 3 H 8 O) for vapors see

Experiment – Photoelectric Effect  Measure the kinetic energy of the electrons as a function of the frequency of the light.  Determine Planck’s constant h.  Measurement using a mercury lamp, filters, and an op-amp.  Hot mercury lamp.

Experiment – Rutherford Experiment  To record the direct counting rate N d of  particles scattered by a gold foil as function of the angle θ.  To determine the corrected counting rates N with respect to the scattering distribution in space.  To validate the “Rutherford’s scattering formula“  Measurement of count rate.  within plastic vessel  emitter handled rarely by technical staff plastic vessel evacuated (to min 50 Pa)

Experiment – Radiation  Look at different materials and their radioactivity. school experiment sources different materials, e.g. sands, watches, dust-bags  Measurement of count rate.  sources and other materials handled by presenter and participants

Experiment – Electron Diffraction  Determination of wavelength of the electrons  Verification of the de Broglie’s equation  Determination of lattice plane spacings of graphite  Measurement through ob- servation of ring radius.  high voltage

 Study of the deflection of electrons in a magnetic field into a circular orbit.  Determination of the magnetic field B as a function of the acceleration potential U of the electrons at a constant radius r.  Determination of the specific charge of the electron.  Measurement through ob- servation of beam radius.  nothing specific

Experiment – Franck-Hertz  To record a Franck-Hertz curve for neon.  To measure the discontinuous energy emission of free electrons for inelastic collision.  To interpret the measurement results as representing discrete energy absorption by neon atoms.  To observe the Ne-spectral lines resulting from the electron-collision excitation of neon atoms.  To identify the luminance phenomenon as layers with a high probability of excitation.  nothing specific