Measuring Atmospheric Muon Flux with Scintillator Paddles

The purpose of this experiment is to determine a relationship between the flux of muons and the zenith angle at which the paddles areoriented, where the zenith angle will be varied in the North/South plane. The original prediction is that the relationship between zenithangle and muon flux is Φ = I0cos2(φ), where φ is zenith angle, I0 is muon flux at 0°, and Φ is muon flux. The data being collected willalso show whether there is a relationship between time of day and muon flux. This experiment is significant as it investigates theproperties of muons, which are extremely high energy particles, capable of penetrating even lead; this means that muons are a backgroundfor many experiments and having an accurate measurement of their flux contributes to the scientific community. The key findings ofthis experiment are that the flux of muons is 58±3m−2 × minute−1 × sr−1 compared to the accepted value of 70±1m−2 × s−1 × sr−1 (note thats is seconds, and sr is steradians – a measurement of solid angle), and that there is no statistically significant relationship between timeof day and muon flux. The group concluded that, since the data fits the model Φ = I0cos2(bφ) with a 99.3% R-squared value (where b isa scalar adjustment factor), that the original prediction is justified. Another phenomenon that was observed was a statistically significantdip in muon flux between 3 and 4a.m. which merits further investigation but is out of the scope of this experiment. See complete issue to read the full text.