The Effect of Sunlight

Setup

In this experiment, the detector was placed outside and tests were run during the day, with the detector in direct sunlight, and at night, in minimal light conditions.

All three modes (coincidence, upper single, lower single) were tested in the daytime and at night.

Each condition was run for a total of 15 minutes.

Note: In all following trials, light level was measured on an arbitrary scale with a range of zero to one, where a reading of 0 signified that no light could be sensed by the light detector used and a reading of 1 signified that the light detector was receiving a light level equal to or greater than the highest light level that it could register. For example, in a closed environment with no light sources, the detector registered a light level of 0.003987 and in direct sunlight, the detector registered a light level of 0.998372.

Note: Refer to the "Setup" section to view how the arbitrary light scale used was defined.

Results - Coincidence Mode

The detector was oriented with a heading of N66W in this experiment.

The graph displays a visible difference in count rate during the daytime and at night, but a conclusion can still not be drawn from this data as the margin of error is too high.

Note: The error bars of both data points are covered by their data points' dots.

Note: Refer to the "Setup" section to view how the arbitrary light scale used was defined.

Results - Upper Single Mode

The detector was oriented with a heading of N56W in this experiment.

In this experiment, the data points differ enough relative to their margins of error for conclusions to be drawn. Thus, count rate is directly related to light level.

This means that light, similar to a radioactive source, causes the detector to read false positives as it incorrectly interprets light as cosmic particles.

Based on these results, it can be inferred that there is a light leak in the upper scintillator that needs to be mended.

Note: The error bars of both data points are covered by their data points' dots.

Note: Refer to the "Setup" section to view how the arbitrary light scale used was defined.

Results - Lower Single Mode

The detector was oriented with a heading of N56W in this experiment.

To accurately measure the effect of light pollution on the count rate registered by the lower scintillator, the detector was switched to an upside-down orientation so that the lower scintillator would be in direct sunlight.

While light pollution may display less of an effect through the data set recorded by the lower scintillator than the data set of the upper scintillator, there is still a significant change in the count rate when the detector is placed in direct sunlight.

This means that there is also a light leak in the lower scintillator that needs to be mended.

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Experiment Setup - Photo

Note: The photo is a reconstruction of the original experiment designed to give viewers a better understanding of the experiment setup. As it is a reconstruction, all and any values displayed in the photo (heading, light level, scintillator paddle wear state, surroundings, etc.) are not to be considered as true to the original experiment.

Note: The orientation shown in the photo does not apply to the lower scintillator's trial, as the detector was switched to an upside-down orientation for that experiment.

Note: The original experiment was conducted without repaired scintillator paddles. At the time of the experiment's reconstruction, the light leak in the upper scintillator paddle had already been repaired. As such, this photo misrepresents the wear state of the upper scintillator paddle at the time of the original experiment.

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