The CloudTracker^®
View actual tracks made by nuclear particles - in real time!

An absolutely fascinating piece of equipment that will captivate viewers for hours!

Award winning performance in science fairs

Here's how it works:
Pure isopropyl alcohol is warmed to ambient room temperature by a heat sink located on the top of a glass chamber. The alcohol evaporates and its dense vapors drift down and begin to fill the chamber. As more and more of the alcohol evaporates, the air inside the chamber becomes heavily saturated. Located at the bottom of the chamber is a thick copper 'condenser plate'. This plate has a large copper ring fused to it which is cooled to very low temperatures with Dry Ice. The copper ring transfers the low temperature in the dry ice reservoir  to the condenser plate.
The warm alcohol vapor from above, and the cold condenser plate below creates a steep temperature gradient. The result is a very unique environment of supersaturated alcohol vapor between two temperature extremes within the chamber. This can be seen in the chamber by the presence of fine alcohol "fog" that forms, drifting down to the condenser plate.
 When a radioactive source is placed in the chamber, high-speed nuclear particles pass through the alcohol vapor and leave ionization trails. As the alcohol is in a supersaturated state, the vapor readily condenses onto these trails producing large cloud tracks that follow the path of the particles. These cloud trails are readily visible, similar to the familiar contrails produced by high altitude aircraft on cold days.
Since the tracks are emitted outward from the source, it is very easy to see their point of origin.
A strong electric field (2,000 volts) is used to draw cloud tracks down to the sensitive region of the chamber which is located just above the condenser plate. The electric field also serves to increase the sensitivity of the chamber and to prevent large amounts of alcohol "rain" from obscuring the sensitive region.
 The black background makes it easier to observe cloud tracks and a bright white light illuminates the chamber from the side, making them very visible against the dark background.

What's Included:
Everything you need to use the CloudTracker ® cloud chamber and view nuclear particle tracks is included with your purchase, except for the Dry Ice. Dry Ice is fairly inexpensive and can be purchased at any ice supply store (just look in the yellow pages under 'ice') and many grocery stores also carry it as well.
1 pint of pure Isopropyl alcohol is included (enough for dozens of experiments) as well as a small
radioactive source that emits Alpha particles. Optional radioactive isotope sources can also be purchased that emit other types of radiation for a variety of different experiments.

In addition, you can insert your own radioactive materials into the cloud chamber (Uranium ore, radium watch dials, etc.) and view the nuclear particles produced by them.
A step-by-step Illustrated instruction booklet is included.

• Simple to operate.
• Thick, pure Copper plate used for rapid & efficient chamber cooling.
• All Copper joints are Silver soldered for maximum strength and resistance to thermal shock.
• Safe, low current & reliable 2,000 volt power supply.
• Built-in flexible lighting for illuminating cloud tracks.
• Insulated cooling receptacle permits hours of viewing consuming little Dry Ice.

Optional Accessories