bubble chamber

American  

noun

Physics.

1. an apparatus for determining the movements of charged particles, consisting of a chamber containing a superheated transparent liquid that, by boiling and producing bubbles in the path of an ionizing particle, indicates the path of the particle.

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bubble chamber British  

noun

1. a device that enables the tracks of ionizing particles to be photographed as a row of bubbles in a superheated liquid. Immediately before the particles enter the chamber the pressure is reduced so that the ionized particles act as centres for small vapour bubbles

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bubble chamber Scientific  

/ bŭb′əl /

1. A device used to observe the paths of charged subatomic particles. A bubble chamber consists of a container filled with very dense fluid that is close to boiling. The moving particles create tracks of bubbles in the fluid that can be photographed and analyzed. Bubble chambers have been largely supplanted in laboratories by more sensitive particle detectors that do not rely on the human eye.

2. Compare cloud chamber

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Etymology

Origin of bubble chamber

First recorded in 1950–55

Example Sentences

For three decades, however, his research was limited to the study and discovery of subatomic particles, for which he used a special device known as a hydrogen bubble chamber.

From Washington Post • Jan. 31, 2017

Figure 22.20 Trails of bubbles are produced by high-energy charged particles moving through the superheated liquid hydrogen in this artist’s rendition of a bubble chamber.

From Textbooks • Aug. 12, 2015

The bubble chamber photograph in Figure 22.20 shows charged particles moving in such curved paths.

From Textbooks • Aug. 12, 2015

Having demonstrated that the bubble chamber idea worked, we proceeded to the task of building one large enough for practical laboratory use.

From Scientific American • Jun. 28, 2012

What had made the search so difficult was the fact that the anti-Xi-zero particle carries no charge, therefore left no track on the photographic plate as it careened through the bubble chamber.

From Time Magazine Archive