Cavendish Laboratory : Chadwick's neutron chamber (1932)

Cavendish Laboratory

<p style='text-align: justify;'>Photograph of Chadwick's neutron chamber of 1932. In 1920, Rutherford speculated about the existence of the neutron. Chadwick referred to this equipment as the "source vessel". Neutrons are produced in collisions between alpha particles and the beryllium screen. The neutrons then collide with hydrogen nuclei in a layer of wax in the ionisation chamber, releasing protons which, as charged particles, can be detected in the chamber. Chadwick was awarded the 1935 Nobel Prize in Physics for this work.</p>