Faculty of Science

Department of Physics

PHYS430: Advanced Lab

Laith Marzouka ID:1160827

Instructor: Dr. Khaled Eid

Abstract
Vacuum is simply a space free of matter, but unfortunately such vacuum does not
exist. Vacuum’s quality is rather defined in terms of pressure and the lower the pressure the
better the vacuum. In modern science, vacuum can be looked at as the space filled with gas
with pressure lower than the atmosphere. However, the idea of vacuum existed long time ago
but it was first mentioned by the Ancient Greeks. Democritus the philosopher (460 – 375 B.C)
was first to propose the idea of atomos (atoms). He believed that the world is made up of these
atomos and empty space existed between them. On the other hand, Aristotle the great
philosopher (384 – 322 B.C) didn’t accept this idea and denied it. The idea of vacuum was
then heavily attacked and refused in the medieval times by the Catholic church and many
investigations about vacuum were burned. Nevertheless, science always finds its way back to
light and that happened due to the efforts of Galileo Galilei (1564 – 1642 A.D) when he proved
that air is a matter with density, thus air can be removed from a given space. By the end of
the medieval era, the Aristotelian no vacuum philosophy was not common anymore and a
series of experiments were done since then till this day.
Introduction
The vacuum is defined in terms of pressure. For this, we have various
categories of vacuums:
Low vacuum ranges between atmosphere to 100 Pa.
Medium vacuum ranges between 100 to 0.1 Pa.
High vacuum ranges between 0.1 to 10-5 Pa.
Ultra High vacuum can go less than 10-5 Pa.

In order to study the process of evacuating the chamber, we must know how
the gas flows. Mainly there are two types of gaseous flow:
Viscous Flow refers to the collisions between the gas molecules with each
others, so it is more common in higher pressure where there is a higher number of
molecules.
Molecular Flow refers to the collisions between the gas molecules and the
vacuum chamber. This kind of flow is more dominant in the low pressure
chambers where the number of gas molecules is lower so there is less chance of
them colliding.
Normally there is no perfect viscous/molecular flow, but rather a combination
between them both. When the flow is not completely viscous or molecular we call
it transitional flow.

The mean free path is another important topic to determine which kind of flow
would occur. The mean free path (λ) is basically the average distance that a
molecule travels before colliding with another molecule and it is given by the
formula:
kT
λ= , where k is Boltzmann’s constant in J / K
√ 2 π d2 P
T is temperature in K , P is the pressure in Pa
and d is the diameter of the molecule in m .
Normally, we use the nitrogen which has d =0.37 nm , and in room temperature
T=300 K .
−3
6.8×10
So approximately: λ= , this result is a proof of our intuition.
P
When the pressure is low, the mean free path is longer and vice versa. In other
words, if the pressure is lower the gas is more likely to flow as the molecular flow
behavior.

Another concept worth going through is the conductance which is the

2
If the flow rate of gas is (Q) in the pipe where the pressure at the first end is
P 0 , and P 1 at the other end, then the conductance C is:
Q
C=
( P 1−P 0 )
4 3
1349. D . P 121. D
In the viscous flow: C= , and in molecular flow: C=
L L
P0+ P1
where P= ( Pascal) , D : diameter (meter) , L: Length(meter)
2

The conductance is an important characteristic since it is proportional to the

3
Structure and Operation

fig1: basic high vacuum system1

The chamber is filled with gas molecules (commonly N2) at atmosphere

There are two main types of pumps used in the vacuum system:

1- Mechanical pumps: The gas received from the chamber is compressed below
atm, then released. The gas expands and has lower pressure than that of the
chamber’s.
These pumps work at pressure range from atmospheric pressure down to 10 -3 Torr
(viscous flow region), other than this range is ineffective. They are usually used as
roughing pumps for other pumps.
2- Diffusion pumps: functions in pressure ranges 10-3 to 10-7 Torr (molecular flow
region). This pump creates a pressure by using the oil vapor to push the gas
molecules. This pump is better for making higher volumes but mechanical pump
are used as roughing pumps here to lower the pressure in order to let the diffusion
pump work properly.

1 https://slideplayer.com/slide/15371625/

4
For measurements, two types of gauges are used in the vacuum system:
1- Thermocouple gauge: We’ve talked lengthily about how a themocouple works
in the previous reports. In the vacuum system, the thermocouple is heated so a
voltage drop will occur and a current will flow. The amount of current that can
pass without variations in temperature is an indicator to the value of pressure in
the chamber. This gauge only works effectively for pressure 0.5 to 500 mTorr since
at lower pressures electric discharge will occur and the gases will conduct.
2- Ionization gauge: A hot filament is used to produce positive ions which will
travel to the negative electrode, and the number of ions collected will act as an
indicator to the gas pressure since it is proportional to the gas density.
Application
The importance of vacuum is due to its importance in physics such as
condensed matter physics. But also it has applications in many other aspects such
as astronomy and space simulations since all the satellites orbit earth are in the
low ultra-high range vacuum. So many tests are done in this kind of vacuum prior
to launching in the real orbit.
Vacuum also serves in pandemics! In such times we are going through,
vacuum could help us also. Plasma sterilization of medical equipment is growing
nowadays and this is done under mid-large vacuums in order to prevent material
damage, unlike when done in normal environment which may cause material
destruction.
Mass spectrometers are also new arising instruments which servers in the
field of virology. This instrument can analyze proteins to determine virus infection
in a method called PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) which requires vacuum.

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Refernces

1- https://application.wiley-vch.de/books/sample/3527407235_c01.pdf

2- https://vacaero.com/information-resources/the-heat-treat-doctor/1347-a-brief-history-of-vacuum-technology.html

3- http://web.physics.ucsb.edu/~phys128/experiments/vacuum/VacuumRev07.pdf

4- https://global-sei.com/technology/tr/bn71/pdf/71-01.pdf

6- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0076695X08603816

7- http://newton.phys.uaic.ro/data/pdf/Vacuum%20Technology.pdf

8- https://www.vacuumscienceworld.com/blog/conductance-influence-in-vacuum-systems

9- https://www.vacuumscienceworld.com/blog/vacuum-applications-covid-19

10- https://www.vacuumscienceworld.com/blog/space-simulation-chambers