Rutherford Scattering with small accelerators and radioactive sources: Experiments for the undergraduate physics laboratory

The Small Accelerator (∼2 MeV) is ideal for studying Rutherford Scattering. The authors have constructed a 15 inch diameter scattering chamber which is to be installed on the +15degrees port of the magnet on the 2 MeV Van de Graaff Accelerator. The chamber is constructed with a 2 inch glass top so that students can observe the target-detector geometry during the experiment. The Au(α,α)Au and the 12C reactions are studied in the energy range from 0.5 to 2.0 MeV. The students measure the differential cross-section for Elastic Scattering and compare their results with the Rutherford theoretical value for angles between 15degrees to 160degrees. The Kinematic equations are also verified during the experiment. The authors have also used radioactive alpha sources in the same chamber to verify the kinematics for the reaction