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We have an explanation for all 3295 xkcd comics, and only 45 (1.4%) are incomplete. Help us finish them!
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| Particle Physics Equipment |
Title text: The one that sounds like the oracle at the center of the galaxy where the hero travels to hear a prophecy is probably Brookhaven National Laboratory's now-dismantled COSMOTRON. |
Explanation
The comic shows particle equipment by how much it seems like an offering at a sci-fi spa. Some things like a Geiger counter are less like, whereas bubble chambers are more like.
| Device | Use | Position |
|---|---|---|
| Geiger counter | A Geiger counter measures ionising radiation. It's the source of the iconic clicking sound that gets faster if there is more radiation. | 2 |
| Cherenkov detector | 3 | |
| Photomultiplier tube | A very sensitive light detector | 4 |
| Linear accelerator | 6 | |
| Scintillation counter | 7 | |
| Ion chamber | 13 | |
| Cyclotron | 18 | |
| Bubble chamber | A big bowl of a fluid, usually liquid hydrogen, that can detect electrically charged particles moving through it. It sounds like a bubble bath, a feature commonly found in spas. | 71 |
| Cloud chamber | A cloud chamber is a transparent container containing supersaturated water or alcohol, which reacts to ionising radiation. | 72 |
| Cosmotron (Title Text) |
Transcript
- Particle Physics Equipment
- By how much it sounds like an offering at a high-end spa in a sci-fi/fantasy novel
- [Rightwards arrow with label "more"]
- [From left to right:]
- Geiger counter
- Cherenkov detector
- Photomultiplier tube
- Linear accelerator
- Scintillation counter
- Ion chamber
- Cyclotron
- Bubble Chamber [There is a large gap before this item]
- Cloud Chamber
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