Radioactivity: Detecting Particles and Fields Around Us

Particles and fields are the elementary carriers of energy and matter as we know and experience in our everyday life. Particles constitute our bodies, what we eat and what we see. "Loose" particles from various origins - cosmic rays, minerals, household products - are showering us every second. We shall learn about different kinds of particles and fields and, as well as methods for detecting and visualizing some of these particles.We will also attempt to build simple particle detectors, such as an ion chamber, using common household items and investigate how they function. With the help of these devices we will look at substances found around us (and some of them we eat) and see whether they are actually radioactive (and they are!).