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Effects of Polarizing Filters on Cosmic Ray Detection

Effects of Polarizing Filters on Cosmic Ray Detection. Eric Glynn. Amber Fetter. Kate Gerbich. Jingyun Fan. Cosmic Rays. Cosmic Rays are showers of subatomic particles that result from a particle entering the earth’s atmosphere and smashing into other particles. Wave-Particle Duality.

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Effects of Polarizing Filters on Cosmic Ray Detection

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  1. Effects ofPolarizing Filterson Cosmic Ray Detection Eric Glynn Amber Fetter Kate Gerbich Jingyun Fan

  2. Cosmic Rays Cosmic Rays are showers of subatomic particles that result from a particle entering the earth’s atmosphere and smashing into other particles.

  3. Wave-Particle Duality • All objects in our universe exhibit properties of both waves and particles. • The reason we can’t detect wave properties of macroscopic objects is their small wavelength.

  4. Wave-particle Duality Photons have a particle and a wave nature depending on how they are measured, according to the uncertainty principle of quantum mechanics. This principle, although more often demonstrated by use of photons, applies to all matter.

  5. Polarizing Filters The orientation of the wave crests is called the polarization of the light.

  6. Polarizing Filters • Light waves move at many different angles and polarizing filters block light waves coming in at specific angles, depending on the polarization of the filter • Polarizing filters are found in • Sunglasses • Professional photographer’s lenses • Etc.

  7. Hypothesis Cosmic rays have a wave quality; thus as we increase the number of polarizing filter layers, less cosmic rays should be detected.

  8. Materials • Cosmic ray detector • Polarizing filters • Clear transparency plastic sheets • Stopwatch

  9. Procedures • Run control i: detector with 0 interference • Run control ii: detector with 1 transparency layer • iii: detector with 2 transparency layers • iv: detector with 3 transparency layers • Run trial i: detector with 1 polarizing filter • ii: detector with 2 polarizing filters, 0 deg • iii: detector with 2 polarizing filters, 90 deg • iv: detector with 3 pol filters; 0, 45 deg • v: detector with 3 pol filters; 90, 45 deg

  10. Results

  11. Results

  12. Results Hits per minute

  13. Conclusion • The polarizing filters had no effect on the detection of cosmic rays. Possible reasons are • Our polarizing filters are not effective because there were only 3 • Polarizing filters block only photons • The amount of photons was so small that blocking them have no effect on the detectors

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