COSTS OF SETTING UP SIX CLOUD CHAMBERS

COSTS OF SETTING UP SIX CLOUD CHAMBERS

1. Plastic jar to fit metal lid - Claussen 2 quart dill pickle spears - $3.95 each at Sam's Club, or - 4 pound Skippy Peanut Butter jar - $6.95 at any supermarket. These jars come with plastic lids but fit onto metal lids available from the UWRF Physics Department. (You must have a plastic jar with a metal lid to form a proper cloud.)

2. Plastic foam minnow buckets - $2.49 each at Fleet Farm or other fishing supplier.

3. Extra foam plastic pieces - Ask for broken scraps of foam insulation at a lumber yard. My scraps were free! (Foam plastic meat trays work too.)

4. Crushed patio stone (for counter-weight in minnow buckets) - $2.89 for 40 lbs.

5. Acrylic plastic sheet for cloud chamber tops. $4.00 or less for 18" x 24" sheet.

6. Six-volt krypton bulb flashlights $3.59 to $9.00 (The cheapest flashlights may not hold up under student use. I bought good quality flashlights on clearance for $6.00 each.)

7. Alkaline AA batteries - 24-pack for $11.95 at Sam's Club. (I used two packages for six cloud chambers.....good for about 10 hours of use.) Remember, the flashlights serve as both a light source and a heat source!

8. Black, acid-free drawing paper - $2.00 per sheet. (One sheet made six cloud chambers)

9. Denatured ethyl alcohol - $3.79 per quart can. Buy it at a discount store paint department.

10. DAP (or G.E.) clear silicone caulking - $3.49 per tube (one tube was enough for six to eight cloud chamber tops)....however, you need a caulking gun too. (approx. $3.00)

11. Dry ice - 75 cents per pound at dry ice supplier. (You might get dry ice free at a supermarket.) I used about 20 pounds for six to eight cloud chambers in five class periods. Usually, I have a small amount of dry ice that lasts until the next day.

MY TOTAL, OUT-OF-POCKET COST TO SET UP EQUIPMENT IN THIS LAB WAS ABOUT $125 FOR MY FIRST SIX CLOUD CHAMBERS! AFTER YOUR INITIAL EQUIPMENT PURCHASE, IT COSTS ABOUT $40 FOR DRY ICE, AA FLASHLIGHT BATTERIES AND NEW ACRYLIC VIEWING WINDOWS EACH SUBSEQUENT YEAR THAT YOU PERFORM YOUR CLOUD CHAMBER LAB.