What it shows:

The Relativity Train is a realization of the famous Einstein gedanken experiments involving traveling trains carrying clocks and meter sticks. The demonstration is used to show how the preservation of the postulated constancy of physical laws and the speed of light in all inertial frames requires length contraction and time dilation in the train frame relative to the lab frame of reference. The demonstration is, of course, not a real experiment but rather a visual means of showing (without using any equations) how length contraction and time dilation are...

What it shows:

In a nuclear reactor or atom bomb, a fissile material such as 235U can capture a neutron. The resulting unstable nucleus fragments into two smaller nuclei, releasing energy and several neutrons (a typical equation is given below). Each of these neutrons can in turn cause the fission of a 235U nucleus. If there is above a critical concentration of fissile material, this chain reaction will continue unaided, and if unregulated can result in a very loud bang.

n + ²³⁵U → ²³⁶U* → ¹⁴¹Ba + ⁹²Kr + 3n

We have designed and built our own cosmic ray telescope (a.k.a. spark chamber). Unlike the old one, this one works reliably, is larger, and makes for a great demo.

What It Shows

The path of a single charged particle can be made visible in cooled supersaturated air/alcohol vapor.

How It Works

The cloud chamber was developed by C.T.R. Wilson at the turn of the...

What it shows:

Gamma ray spectroscopy is used to detect the minute amount of radioactive potassium-40 present in the human body. Using a NaI(Tl) scintillation detector in conjunction with a multichannel pulse-height analyzer (PHA), 1.46 MeV gammas originating from the human body are detected. The source of these gammas is K-40 which has a half-life of 1.26 billion years, and is the main source of radioactivity inside the body. The second most active radionuclide in the body, carbon-14 (5,730 yr half-life), can not be detected with this apparatus because it is a...

What it shows:

β-rays emanating from a radioactive isotope are deflected from their straight line paths by a magnetic field.

How it works:

⁹⁰Sr/⁹⁰Y, a "pure" beta-...

What it shows:

Gamma rays are electromagnetic radiations which we detect as quanta of energy or photons. When the radioactive source is confined so that it acts as a point source, the diminution in the number of photons incident on a given area is such that the intensity is inversely proportional to the square of its distance from the source.

How it works:

A Co-60 source (1.173 and 1.332 MeV gammas) radiates isotropically. A Geiger-Müller counter is used to detect the radiation intensity at distances of 2, 3, and 4 meters. The...

Different colors of LED light illuminate a small corked test tube with no reaction. Ultraviolet light causes an explosion that shoots the cork across the room.

What it shows:

A pulse-modulated electromagnetic signal is simultaneously displayed in the time domain (on an oscilloscope) and in the frequency domain (on a spectrum analyzer). Using ∆n for the frequency spread (uncertainty in frequency) and ∆t for the duration of the pulse (uncertainty in the time domain), the frequency-time uncertainty relation is given by ¹

∆n ∆t ≥ ¹/_4π

By progressively shortening the length of time that the carrier signal is on, the inverse relation between pulse length and spectral-energy...

What it shows:

The photoemission of electrons from a metal surface depends on the energy of the incident radiation and not on its intensity. Knowing the energy of the emitted photoelectrons and the frequency of the incident light, you can calculate a value for Planck's constant h.

How it works:

Using a mercury source, we have at our disposal three very bright visible lines, in the blue, green and yellow (doublet), and a rich selection of ultra-violet. Our main source is a Phillips Lifeguard 1000W street lamp with its outer (uv...

What it shows:

A direct observation that the photoelectric effect is color (i.e. frequency) dependent and not intensity dependent. We discharge an electroscope using UV radiation after all attempts to discharge it with light of a longer wavelength has failed.

How it works:

An ebonite rod and fur is used to place a negative charge onto a Braun electroscope (figure 1) fitted with a thick zinc plate. Deviation of the electroscope arm from the vertical indicates a net negative charge. Next we hit it with light from a 1000W...

Diffraction produces a bright spot where Poisson believed there would be darkness.

What It Shows

Edge diffraction around a 1/8" diameter steel ball bearing results in a visible spot in the center of its shadow. In 1818 this...

Wave/particle duality observed in Young's double slit experiment with camera sensitive to individual photons.

What it shows:
In this demonstration we perform the double-slit interference experiment with extremely dim light and show that even when the light intensity is reduced down to several photons/sec, the audience can see the familiar Young's double-slit interference pattern build up over a period of time. This addresses the question of how can single photons interfere with photons that have already gone through the apparatus in the past, or with those that...

What it shows:

A point light source will produce seemingly sharp shadows which turn out to be not at all sharp when viewed under magnification. Narrow interference bands are seen within the shadow of a straight edge while more complicated shapes yield more complicated interference bands and striations.

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