Spark Chamber
A historic particle detector consisting of parallel metal plates filled with noble gas where high-voltage electrical sparks form along ionized particle tracks.
Governing formula
High Voltage Spark Discharge along Ionized Tracks
SI unit
Visual Spark Tracks
In depth
Fast cosmic rays or beam particles ionize noble gas between plates. Triggering a fast high-voltage pulse produces visible electrical sparks along the ionized path, providing photographic records of particle tracks.
Examples in the real world
Discovering the muon neutrino at Brookhaven National Laboratory in 1962 using spark chamber detectors.