spark chamber
- noun
- Archaic
- The SLAC-Berkeley detector tracked charged particles with an array of spark chambers.
Examples
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The direction of the incoming gamma ray is determined by examining the initial directions of the electron-positron pairs, and its energy is ascertained from the measurement in the sodium iodide crystal and the characteristics of the pair tracks in the spark chamber assembly.
Academic text (1990) -
Schwartz and his colleagues exposed thick-plate optical spark chambers to a v mu beam from Brookhaven National Laboratory's Alternating Gradient.
Academic text (1997) -
The upper 28 spark chambers are interleaved with thin tantalum sheets.
Academic text (1990) -
Then came the coil producing an axial magnetic field, and the outermost layers of iron and spark chambers for muon identification.
Academic text (1997) -
The SLAC-Berkeley detector used a series of spark chambers to track charged particles effectively.
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After passing through the aluminum plates, neutrinos created detectable sparks in the spark chamber during their interactions.
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Physicists analyze the data recorded by the spark chamber to study the behavior of elementary particles.
Synonyms
A machine that finds and shows very small particles inside atoms in physics experiments
A device that shows the paths of tiny invisible particles as thin white streaks in a mist
A tank of very hot liquid where tiny bubbles show the paths of invisible particles
A device that makes tiny sparks when particles from radiation pass through it
A device that makes vapor tracks to show where tiny charged particles move
Device that measures radiation that makes charged particles by detecting those particles in a gas
A device that measures radiation by detecting tiny charged particles in a gas tube
A device that detects and counts slow neutrons using boron
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound is compositionally transparent: a B1 learner who knows 'spark' (a flash/discharge) and 'chamber' (an enclosed space) can infer a space or device in which sparks occur. While they may not infer the specific particle-detection function, the overall meaning (‘a chamber where sparks appear’) is directly derivable from the constituents.
Etymology
Spark chamber comes from early science instruments: when a tiny particle passed between metal plates inside a chamber, it made small bright sparks that marked the particle's path. That's why spark chamber means 'a device that shows particle tracks by making sparks'.