Van de Graff Accelerator

[Fullhawking]

Last summer I finished my Tesla Coil and am now working on my next summer project, a small particle accelerator. I figured the easiest place to start would be with some sort of Van de Graff generator. I was wondering if anyone out there has built any similar device and has any useful tips, resources, or general direction I could take.

[Adrian Baker]

I believe that this idea was tried in the '40s when Physicists were trying to 'split the atom'. (I may be wrong...)

However, the largest V de G in the world is in the Science museum in Boston, Mass. If I remember rightly, this is only one half of the original and was used in particle research back in the '40s.

It is well worth a visit - I went there nearly 20 years ago and still remember the stunning display of sparks, cracks and bangs. Awesome!

Perhaps you could visit or check out their website?

[:)]