nuclear emulsion

[ noo-klee-er i-muhl-shuhn, nyoo- ]

noun

, Physics.

1. a photographic emulsion in the form of a thick block, used to record the tracks of elementary particles.

Pronunciation Note

See nuclear ( def ).

Word History and Origins

Origin of nuclear emulsion¹

First recorded in 1945–50

Example Sentences

The research team managed to snag a set of muon detectors—called nuclear emulsion films—from their Japanese partners to observe muons bouncing around what they realized was a 100-foot-long cavity in the middle of the pyramid.

From Slate

One type were nuclear emulsion films.

From Economist

The exposure time for the nuclear emulsion film used around the Great Pyramid was measured in months.

From Washington Post

One type of muon detector, called a nuclear emulsion film, catches muons as lines of little black globules.

From Washington Post

Its telltale track through a sandwich of three dozen sheets of plastic, nuclear emulsion and photographic film looked unfamiliar to cosmic-ray researchers.

From Time Magazine Archive