Measuring the Cosmic Particle Flux of a Building

Note: Diagram not to scale.

Setup - General

Orinda Theatre Square, California, is an optimal building to measure the cosmic particle flux of due to its three subterranean floors and three above-ground stories.

Three staircases were tested in this experiment. The central staircase, indicated by the blue square, the southwestern ground staircase, indicated by the green square, and the southwestern garage staircase, indicated by the red square.

For all experiments, the detector was run in coincidence mode. Each floor of each staircase was tested for a total time of one hour.

Instead of using a GPS to find the elevation of all staircase levels, the offset of any given level from the elevation of the ground floor of the building was measured. This was done to clarify which floors are subterranean and what the effect of the elevation change is relative to the building's orientation.

In each experiment, to minimize light pollution, the detector was covered by a light-blocking blanket that was folded into four layers.

Setup - SW Garage Staircase

The southwestern garage staircase accesses all subterranean levels: parking level 1, parking level 2, and parking level 3.

For all experiments in this series, the detector was oriented with a heading of S34E.

Floor Elevation Offsets:

Parking Level 3 = -8.5665 m

Parking Level 2 = -6.1157 m

Parking Level 1 = -3.2290 m

All elevation measurements reflect the offset of the elevation of the given floor from the elevation of the ground floor of Orinda Theatre Square. In this form of measurement, the ground floor's elevation is exactly zero.

Setup - SW Ground Staircase

The southwestern ground staircase only connects floors one and two.

For all experiments in this series, the detector was oriented with a heading of N14W.

Floor Elevation Offsets:

Ground Floor = 0 m (exactly)

Floor 2 = 4.1707 m

Setup - Central Staircase

The central staircase accesses all levels of Orinda Theatre Square.

For all experiments in this series, the detector was oriented with a heading of N64W.

Floor Elevation Offsets:

Parking Level 3 = -8.2231 m

Parking Level 2 = -5.3762 m

Parking Level 1 = -2.7089 m

Ground Floor: 0 m (exactly)

Floor 2 = 4.2088 m

Floor 3 = 7.8813 m

Note: The chi squared per degrees of freedom value for the graph's trendline is 4.26

Results - SW Garage Staircase

Despite the data collected on parking level two, there is an effect within statistical error when the first and last points of the data set are compared.

The chi squared per degrees of freedom value for the graph's trendline is 4.26, which reflects that although there is an effect within statistical parameters between the first and last points, the trendline does not accurately represent the data set nor the cosmic particle flux of the building (in this stairwell).

Results - SW Ground Staircase

Within the observed error, there is no significant difference between the data points on this graph. Statistically, this graph displays no effect.

Thus, in this stairwell, the building causes no significant flux in the rate at which cosmic particles are detected.

Note: The chi squared per degrees of freedom value for the graph's trendline is 2.940

Results - Central Staircase

The chi squared per degrees of freedom value for the graph's trendline is 2.940

While the trendline's chi squared per degrees of freedom value of 2.940 is not optimal, the graph displays a strictly increasing trend that is not violated by any data point.

This means that in the central staircase, the change in the amount of building matter within the field of cosmic particle detection is affecting the rate at which cosmic particles are detected.

It can thus be concluded that the building is absorbing cosmic particles and preventing them from reaching the detector.

Adventure Conclusion

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Experiment Setup - Photo

Note: This photo is of the experiment setup of floor two of the central staircase.

Note: This photo was taken while the original experiment was fully set up. It is accurate in all forms and represents the conditions of the experiment exactly at the time that the photo was taken (note that some of these conditions could have changed over time, such as light level. However, the data collected using the light sensor shows that due to the light-blocking blanket covering, the light level remained unchanged).