Labs & Lending Library
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Nanophysics
Atomic Force Microscopy
Resistance of Atomic Wires
Imaging Atoms (Demonstration)
Waves
Audio Crime Lab
Resonance in Transverse Waves
Diffraction of Light
Clearly Colorful Thin Films
Exploring Wave Phenomena
Arecibo's Giant Mirror
Doppler Effect
Resonance in Longitudinal Waves
Electricity and Magnetism
Water Analogy to Electric Circuits
Discovering Ohm's Law
Too Cool to Resist
Magnetic Force on a wire with current
Biocircuits
Foutan Board
Snap, Crackle and Pop
Nature of Resistance
Power to the People
Quantum Physics
Bohr Model Game
The Phantastic Photon
Light Emitting Diodes
Mechanics
Double Pendulum
Mousetrap and Ping Pong Balls
The Physics of Rock Climbing
Vortex Rings
Stunt Car Challenge!
The Physics of Baseball
Particle Physics
Cloud Chamber and Cosmic Rays
Optics
Communicating with Light
Is the Light Bulb Too Good to be True?
Measuring the Speed of Light
Energy
Energy Conversion in a Light Bulb
Other
Introduction to Graphing
Introduction to the Oscilloscope
DNA Diffraction and DNA Structure
2-D Scattering - An Analog to Rutherford Backscattering
Authors: Greg Fuchs, Walt Peck
Lab Manual: 
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Arrangments must be made to pick up and return the equipment for this lab.
Abstract: This lab is a 2-D analog to the materials characterization technique of Rutherford backscattering (RBS). It introduces the concept of looking at the angular distribution of scattered particles to measure/characterize the scattering target. In RBS, the scattering targets are the atoms, and the scattered particles are alpha-particles. In this experiment, we instead use a metal target with ball-bearings that scatter. Students repeatedly launch the ball bearings down the grooves of a ramp to simulate a uniform flux of alpha particles. The data is collected by the mark it leaves on a carbon-paper strip. By plotting and analyzing the data, students can learn about 2-D scattering (and by analogy, 3-D scattering) as well as calculate the size of the target.
