Particle Physics
Lego particle kits, cosmic rays, the LHC and the Higgs
- ALL
- Poster
- Article
- Information sheet
- External link
- Other
Poster
The Large Hadron Collider (LHC)
From the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), the 'Big questions, big experiment' wall chart describes the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN. It looks at the "big questions" about our Universe that scientists are trying to answer, and how the amazing LHC will help them to do so. The 'Tunnel to the beginning of time' poster shows the huge scale of the LHC.
Article
ALICE: Extraordinary Nuclear Adventures Underground
This Catalyst article discusses how experiments using the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), which discovered the Higgs boson, at the CERN laboratory can tell us about the nature of matter in the early universe. ALICE (A Large Ion Collider Experiment) is one of the experiments taking place at the LHC.
Higgs Boson
This Catalyst article looks at the Higgs boson, a fundamental particle discovered by scientists at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN, Geneva, on July 4th 2012, after it was first predicted almost 50 years earlier. The Higgs boson is predicted by the ‘Standard Model’, which makes up the set of fundamental particles that explain how matter behaves.
Information sheet
Cosmic Rays: Mysterious Extraterrestrial Visitors
Produced by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), Cosmic Rays is a colour A5 leaflet that opens out into an A2 double-sided wallchart describing cosmic rays and where they come from, what effect they have on Earth and how they are used in scientific applications.
External link
Cristina's Cloud Chamber
Cloud chamber can be rented by up to two weeks for a small fee.
There is a manual with teacher resources with activities in the class.
For A-level, there are extended activities with measurements and calculations - a good representation of research.
Discovering Particles
Resources from the Royal Society Exhbition 2011, including images of particles and text and games/puzzles/activities.
The Higgs Boson - 1 minute physics
This is a 3-parter.
IOP - Making a Fish Tank Cloud Chamber
A video from the IOP on how to make a fish tank cloud chamber.
Royal Society - 100 Years of Cosmic Rays
Cosmic 100 was part of the Royal Society Summer Exhibition. The site includes videos, images about detecting cosmic rays.
STFC LHC Site
Science Technology and Facilities Council site in the Large Hadron Collider
Other
Queen Mary University of London - Particle Physics
Queen Mary University of London and the South East Physics Network have produced three particle physics kits for use in schools: Building the Universe; Fisson and Fusion and an A-level Particle Physics kit. All the kits use Lego bricks as fundamental particles, so that students can build atoms and look at the interactions between particles. The Lego bricks themselves are available in packs from Queen Mary University, London.
