And how do people make one at home?
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A particle accelerator takes two particles, like protons, and magnetically accelerates . Using a massive loop of magnetic coils the particle is accelerated as close to the speed of light as we can get. Then they are sent smashing into each other at a precise point. That point is filled with sensitive instruments to record everything that happens during the collision. In the literal moments after the collision we can map the subatomic particles that explode out as well as the energy waves.
There’s a reason why the Large Hadron Collider took over 4.5 billion US dollars to build and costs 1 billion US dollars a year to operate. The electric bill alone for the LHC is around 23.5 millions US dollars a year.
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A particle accelerator is a machine that cases small charged particles to move very fast. You create them by created a large electric field. Linear accelerators are fairly simple–just create a very large voltage difference between the accelerator ends. The particle will accelerate until it hits the other end. A circular track is used to get the particles moving faster (a circle has no end)–each trip around you can add a bit more energy.
Until around the 2000’s most homes in the US had a particle accelerator. Those old large, heavy glass TVs (CRT) used a short particle accelerator to throw electrons at the phosphors on the screen.
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