A Hackclub Apex project by Brian Zhang, Daniel Zhang, and Eugene Lee
In Physics, a prominent example of special relativity used is the Muon; a particle that travels at high enough speeds to experience relativistic effects. This project aims to observe time dilation in muons, utilizing scintillators and sensors to detect the change in rate of muons detected. The project hopes to confirm / explore the Pfotzer maximum, where experimentation and theory have shown that a maximal rate of particle detection occurs at ~29km.
We initially expected that the relativistic effects would mean that a larger rate would be observed at the bottom, and a lesser upwards, but sources such as https://www.unco.edu/nhs/physics-astronomy/pdf/2018CSGCEclipse.pdf show that there exists a particular curve for this data, the Pfotzer curve. Thus, this experiment intends to not only observe the Muons themselves, but also whether if the Pfotzer curve exists in our own experimentation
Muon detection is done through the CosmicWatch Desktop Muon Detector (https://github.com/spenceraxani/CosmicWatch-Desktop-Muon-Detector-v2), to which it will be modified to include other sensors.
| Person | work accomplished |
|---|---|
| Eugene | soldering, wiring, first & second box assembley, initial version 1 code, research, version 2 code debugging, project design |
| Daniel | soldering, camera mount CAD, first box (window creation, camera mounting), version 2 Oled + altimeter + SD card code, parts ordering |
| Brian | second box component assembly, battery holder, research, project design, box testing, component wiring |
A more detailed presentation can be viewed here: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1ZBc04pf7R1xf7GHWZV_NUtK7q8jfDxB4UwPaJ63R6cA/edit?usp=sharing
- Scintillator
- Altimeter
- Arduino
- Battery packs
- Styrofoam box
- Jumper Wires
- OLED screen
- PCB + LED
| Step | Description | Progress |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Research | Muon fundamentals, components required, altitude-rate theory | Complete |
| 2. Building | Components delivered and to be soldered, planning of location of parts and sensors | Complete |
| 3. Testing | Make sure components and code are foolproof, meet with engineers | Complete |
| 4. Official Run | Attached to weatherballoon | Complete |
| 5. Data analysis and results | Plotting with tools such as Matplotlib | - |
A big thank you to Hack club for providing this unique opportunity!