• Question: how do see what particles are produced and how do you test what they are?

    Asked by anon-222164 to Sam on 7 Jan 2020.
    • Photo: Sam Henry

      Sam Henry answered on 7 Jan 2020:


      We have particle detectors that work in a similar way to the camera on a phone. When a particle hits a silicon chip, we can see the pixels that are hit. Different particles leave different tracks. For example muons leave a straight line, but alpha particle leave a big splodge. This way we can test what they are, but sometimes it is not entirely clear what type of particle it is.

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