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[[Image:Bubble-chamber.png|thumb|right|250px|A bubble chamber]]
A '''bubble chamber''' is a vessel filled with a [[superheating|superheated]] [[transparency (optics)|transparent]] [[liquid]] used to detect [[ion]]ized particles moving through it. The ionized particle deposits sufficient energy in the liquid that it begins to boil along its path, forming a string of bubbles. Bubble chambers are similar to [[cloud chamber]]s in application and basic principle. It was invented by [[Donald A. Glaser]], for which he was awarded the 1960 [[Nobel Prize in Physics]].

A bubble chamber is normally made by filling a large cylinder with a liquid just below its boiling point; at the top of the chamber a camera looks in.  The whole chamber is subject to a constant magnetic field.  As the particles enter the chamber, a piston suddenly decreases the pressure in the chamber.  This brings the liquid to a superheated state, in which a tiny effect, such as the passing of a charged particle near an atom, is sufficient to nucleate a bubble of vaporized liquid.  At this moment, the camera records the picture.  The magnetic field causes charged particles to travel in [[helix|helical]] paths whose radius is determined by the ratio of [[charge]] to [[mass]] of the particle.  In this way charged particles can be observed and their mass measured.  However, there is no way to effectively measure their [[velocity]] ([[kinetic energy]]).

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[[Image:Charmed-dia-w.png]]<br>
Bubble chamber track and diagram of the production of a charmed [[baryon]] (leading to the discovery of the charm [[quark]])
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Bubble chambers have largely been replaced by [[wire chamber]]s, which allow particle [[energy|energies]] to be measured at the same time. Another alternative technique is the [[spark chamber]].

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[[nl:Bellenvat]]

[[Category:Particle detectors]]

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====References====
* Adapted from the [[Wikipedia]] article, "Bubble_chamber" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bubble_chamber, used under the [[GNU Free Documentation License]]