PHYS 4430
Physics Undergraduate Labs
Lifetime of Muons Generated by Cosmic Rays
This experiment uses a large plastic scintillator with an attached photomultiplier tube. Cosmic rays are studied by observing the light pulses they produce in the scintillator. A variety of fast timing electronics and coincidence circuits are used to obtain information about the composition. Measurement of the muon lifetime measurement is a good first effort. See this useful paper.
1 Prelab
Please read through the lab guide, provide a short paragraph about the main goals of the experiment, and then complete the indicated prelab questions from the lab guide:
Question 1 on page 4