\contentsline {section}{\numberline {1}Introduction}{1}
\contentsline {section}{\numberline {2}Preliminary Work}{3}
\contentsline {subsection}{\numberline {2.1}Detector budget}{3}
\contentsline {subsection}{\numberline {2.2}School facilities}{4}
\contentsline {subsection}{\numberline {2.3}Demonstration vs. investigation}{4}
\contentsline {subsection}{\numberline {2.4}Collaborative array}{5}
\contentsline {section}{\numberline {3}Theory}{6}
\contentsline {subsection}{\numberline {3.1}Cosmic Rays}{6}
\contentsline {subsubsection}{\numberline {3.1.1}Cosmic rays in space}{6}
\contentsline {subsubsection}{\numberline {3.1.2}Cosmic rays in the atmosphere}{6}
\contentsline {subsubsection}{\numberline {3.1.3}Muons}{7}
\contentsline {subsection}{\numberline {3.2}Depositing Energy}{9}
\contentsline {subsubsection}{\numberline {3.2.1}Bethe-Bloche formula}{9}
\contentsline {subsection}{\numberline {3.3}Electrical breakdown of gas}{10}
\contentsline {subsubsection}{\numberline {3.3.1}Ionisation}{11}
\contentsline {subsubsection}{\numberline {3.3.2}Townsend avalanche}{12}
\contentsline {subsubsection}{\numberline {3.3.3}Streamers}{12}
\contentsline {subsubsection}{\numberline {3.3.4}Spark}{13}
\contentsline {subsubsection}{\numberline {3.3.5}Arc}{13}
\contentsline {section}{\numberline {4}Resistive Plate Chambers (RPCs)}{15}
\contentsline {subsection}{\numberline {4.1}Resistive plates}{15}
\contentsline {subsection}{\numberline {4.2}Resistive electrodes}{16}
\contentsline {subsection}{\numberline {4.3}Readout strips}{16}
\contentsline {subsubsection}{\numberline {4.3.1}Perpendicular readout strips}{16}
\contentsline {subsection}{\numberline {4.4}Gas mixtures}{17}
\contentsline {subsubsection}{\numberline {4.4.1}Quenchers}{18}
\contentsline {subsubsection}{\numberline {4.4.2}Flammability}{18}
\contentsline {subsubsection}{\numberline {4.4.3}Effects of humidity}{18}
\contentsline {section}{\numberline {5}Building the RPCs}{18}
\contentsline {subsection}{\numberline {5.1}Gas mixing and delivery system}{19}
\contentsline {subsection}{\numberline {5.2}Readout system}{20}
\contentsline {subsubsection}{\numberline {5.2.1}Electronics}{22}
\contentsline {subsection}{\numberline {5.3}High voltage system}{22}
\contentsline {subsubsection}{\numberline {5.3.1}Safety interlock}{23}
\contentsline {subsection}{\numberline {5.4}Resistive electrode coating}{23}
\contentsline {subsubsection}{\numberline {5.4.1}Preliminary tests}{23}
\contentsline {paragraph}{Indian inks}{24}
\contentsline {paragraph}{Other coatings}{24}
\contentsline {subsubsection}{\numberline {5.4.2}Tinned versus non-tinned sides of glass}{24}
\contentsline {subsubsection}{\numberline {5.4.3}Drying times of inks}{25}
\contentsline {subsubsection}{\numberline {5.4.4}Varying sample sizes}{26}
\contentsline {subsection}{\numberline {5.5}First prototype}{28}
\contentsline {subsection}{\numberline {5.6}Second prototype}{29}
\contentsline {subsection}{\numberline {5.7}Third prototype}{30}
\contentsline {subsection}{\numberline {5.8}Electrically reinforcing the design}{31}
\contentsline {subsection}{\numberline {5.9}Gas mixtures used}{32}
\contentsline {subsection}{\numberline {5.10}Electrical resonance}{32}
\contentsline {subsection}{\numberline {5.11}Method for determining efficiency}{34}
\contentsline {subsubsection}{\numberline {5.11.1}Scintillator detectors}{35}
\contentsline {subsubsection}{\numberline {5.11.2}Coincidence modelling}{36}
\contentsline {subsection}{\numberline {5.12}Noise}{37}
\contentsline {subsubsection}{\numberline {5.12.1}Fitting noise to the data}{37}
\contentsline {subsection}{\numberline {5.13}Electron versus ion signals}{38}
\contentsline {section}{\numberline {6}Results}{39}
\contentsline {section}{\numberline {7}Discussion}{41}
\contentsline {subsection}{\numberline {7.1}Noise from the RPC}{41}
\contentsline {subsection}{\numberline {7.2}Efficiencies}{42}
\contentsline {subsection}{\numberline {7.3}Cost estimate}{42}
\contentsline {section}{\numberline {8}Conclusions and Further Work}{44}
\contentsline {section}{\numberline {A}Survey of physics in secondary schools}{45}
\contentsline {subsection}{\numberline {A.1}Survey outline}{45}
\contentsline {subsection}{\numberline {A.2}Survey results}{46}
\contentsline {section}{\numberline {B}Pion and muon decays}{47}
\contentsline {section}{\numberline {C}Example readout electronics}{48}
\contentsline {section}{\numberline {D}Computer modelling using python}{49}
\contentsline {subsection}{\numberline {D.1}Monte Carlo detector model for determining coincidence rates}{49}
\contentsline {subsection}{\numberline {D.2}Monte Carlo detector model for determining average path lengths}{51}
\contentsline {subsection}{\numberline {D.3}Common detector classes}{52}
\contentsline {subsection}{\numberline {D.4}Probability program to predict noise levels}{55}
\contentsline {subsection}{\numberline {D.5}Re-using the detector classes}{57}