Particle Accelerators Essay

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Particle Accelerators: By Sean Kleffner Origination: What is a particle accelerator and what does it do? Well a particle accelerator (also known as an atom masher or particle collider) is a device that accelerates subatomic particles to high velocities and maintains them in small consistent beams. In other words, a particle accelerator speeds up particles to the speed of light by electromagnetic waves, which push the particles forward. Around 1920, the first high-voltage particle accelerator consisting of two electrodes placed inside a vacuum vessel had a potential drop of the order of 100 kilovolts and was conceived by and named after John Douglas Cockcroft and Ernest Thomas Sinton Walton. Two basic types of particle accelerators are linear and circular. Linear Type: One basic type of particle accelerators is linear particle accelerators. In linear particle accelerators the particles travel down a long straight track and collide with the target. So, the particles travel inside a vacuum down a long, copper tube. Electrons ride waves caused by klystrons. Electromagnets confine the particles into a narrow beam. Once the beam reaches the end of the tunnel, detectors record the subatomic particles and radiation released. An example of this accelerator is the linac at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Laboratory. Circular Type: Another basic type of particle accelerators is circular particle accelerators. For a circular particle accelerator, the particles travel around in a circle until they collide with the target. So the particles are propelled several times through a circular track. After each pass, the magnetic field is strengthened to accelerate the beam. When the desired power level is achieved, detectors are placed in the path to record data. An example of this accelerator is Lawrence’s Cyclotron. What makes it work? : A

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