There are 2 types of atom smashers: linear and circular. Linacs (linear accelerators) are in a line, while the other is a circle. Shouldn’t linacs be not as good as circular accelerators since circular colliders have unlimited space to accelerate while linacs have a limited amount? I understand it might need more force to go in a circle but the length makes up for it.
In: Physics
Electrons lose energy when you bend them around a curve, so electron accelerators tend to be linear. You also have the problem for other particles that the higher the speed, the bigger the circle has to be or you can’t get magnets powerful enough to make the particles take the turn. Like if we wanted to have some much higher powered than CERN, the circle would have to be a lot bigger.
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