From Physics 111-Lab Wiki

All pages in this lab

I. Muon Lifetime

II. Staff Sign-Off Sheet (MUO)

III. Exponential Probability Distributions

IV. Error Analysis Notes

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Student's name ______________________________________________________________

Partner's Name ______________________________________________________________

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Contents 1 Muon Lifetime 2 Before The Lab 3 Pre-lab Discussion Questions 4 Mid-lab Questions

Muon Lifetime

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Before The Lab

View the Muon Lifetime video, discuss the pre-lab questions with an instructor, and have the Staff Sign-Off Sheet (MUO) signed.

Pre-lab Discussion Questions

View the Muon Lifetime video.

It is your responsibility to discuss this lab with an instructor on the first day of your scheduled laboratory period. This signed sheet must be included as the first page of your report. Without it you will lose 1/3 of a letter grade. You should think about and be prepared to discuss at least the following before you come to lab:

1. What is a muon?
2. How and where are the muons in this experiment produced?
3. In deriving the muon lifetime from the measured data, does any correction need be made for the time that the muon travels before it reaches the tank?
4. The cosmic ray flux at sea level, integrated over all angles is approximately one particle per square centimeter per minute, on any horizontal surface. The flux passing in both directions through a vertical surface is one-half as much. Use the zenith angle dependence of muon intensity to explain this result. Muons come only from the upper hemisphere (above the horizon).
5. Given the geometry of the detector, 60 cm x 30 cm x 240 cm high, calculate the number of cosmic rays per minute which enter the detector.
6. The fact that Figure 6 of Rossi [Ref. 2] is relatively flat from zero to several hundred g/cm2, means that the number of muons which stop in a fairly shallow detector depends only on the number of grams of the detector. It does not depend on the shape of the detector, nor on the direction of incidence of the muons. For solid angle use 2π / 3 steradians ( = cos²θ integrated over the upper hemisphere.) Calculate the number of muons that will stop in the detector. Assume the density of the mineral oil is 1 g/cm3.
7. Think how you will analyze the data. What program will use use ? What steps need to be done ? Discuss your choices with an instructor.

Staff Signature ___________________________________________________ Date ______________

Completed on the first day of lab? (circle) Yes / No

Mid-lab Questions

On day 3 of this lab, you should have successfully acquired an over-night muon spectrum with a calibrated time scale. Make a crude measurement of the lifetime. Show your spectrum to a GSI and ask for a signature.

Staff Signature (Curve OK; Lifetime OK) ______________________________________________ Date ______________

Completed on the third day of lab? (circle) Yes / No

INCLUDE THIS SHEET AS THE FIRST PAGE OF YOUR REPORT