What Are the Real Objectives of Particle Acceleration?

In summary, the conversation discussed the goals and purposes of particle acceleration. The main reasons for accelerating particles to high speeds include finding new particles, using them for medical purposes such as proton therapy, studying the structure of materials, and analyzing isotopes. However, some may question the practical applications of these particles and their existence. The conversation also touched on the importance of research in areas like black holes, dark matter, and cosmology, and how knowledge gained from these studies can have unpredictable but significant impacts in the future. Overall, the conversation highlighted the value of pursuing knowledge for the sake of knowledge, without always having a clear practical application in mind.
  • #1
munadi
hi their its me munadi I am a new person in the forum, i av to write an essay, and i wanted a few answers. i looked around the forum, to see if i could find a link which specified my question. but i found nothing of that sort, so ended up in the largest forum thinkng ill get several people helping me out.

i wanted to know the actual goals of particle acceleration. what is the purpose behind accelrating particles, what are they trying to achieve, to me it seems like they just want to reach new velocity and mass records. i understand finding out new particles can be one of their aims, but are there anyh other aims for using such high energies which obviously costs a lot of money, its not 2 my understanding.

someone told me the experiments help to find out newer and more knowledge amongst the fundamental forces that work and maintain us, but how is it helping by accelerating particles to such velocities. if i could have an answer please..thankyou very much. p.s is anyone here studying astrophysics, i get stuck in my Bsc degree quite a bit, thought if i could no a contact that might make life easier for me. thankyou very much x
 
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  • #2
Try to find some usage for them, WHY do one wants to get particles to high speed?

i) Find new particles from the collisions of high energy particles -> The centre of mass energy in the collision can create new particles by exciting them from the vacuum.

ii) Kill cancer in body, proton theraphy.

iii) Get syncrotron radiation for usage in finding out structure of materials.

iv) mass spectrometer, finding what isotopes a certain material is used of -> you need to accelerate the particles through a magnetic field, bending radius and velocity gives mass vs. charge.

Now that was some common usage for accelerators, try to google a bit about those.
 
  • #3
i know there are some common uses, but within the subject of particle physics. how will the world benefit from such collisions, i understand they will find out newer particles, heavier particles, there particle properties can be determined, but why do we need to know such existence of particles. why do we need to know about pions and and other leptons. how will the knowledge of these particles be beneficial for the world economically. does it have a reason.
 
  • #4
no practical usage of the vast majority of particles.

however muons are used when doing sutff with nuclear fuel..

why must everything have application in technology?

and a pion is not a lepton..
 
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  • #5
munadi said:
i know there are some common uses, but within the subject of particle physics. how will the world benefit from such collisions, i understand they will find out newer particles, heavier particles, there particle properties can be determined, but why do we need to know such existence of particles. why do we need to know about pions and and other leptons. how will the knowledge of these particles be beneficial for the world economically. does it have a reason.

Why do we need to do research on black holes, and dark matter, and cosmology?

There are many aspect of science, and physics/astrophysics/astronomy where things are done for the sake of knowledge. Why? Because we can never predict what the future outcome of such knowledge will result in. No one knows about the practical application of Special/General Relativity and Quantum Mechanics when they were first formulated. And now, can you think of how our world would be VERY different without them?

I'm moving this to GD because this is not a physics question.

Zz.
 
  • #6
But please tells us aout your essay and what you need help with, we want to help you.
 

1. What is a particle accelerator?

A particle accelerator is a scientific instrument that uses electromagnetic fields to accelerate and guide charged particles, such as protons or electrons, to high speeds. These high-speed particles are then collided with other particles to study their properties and interactions.

2. How do particle accelerators work?

Particle accelerators work by using electromagnetic fields to accelerate particles. The particles are injected into a long tube called a "beam pipe" and then guided and accelerated by powerful magnets. The particles travel at close to the speed of light and are then collided with a target or another beam of particles.

3. What are the main types of particle accelerators?

The two main types of particle accelerators are linear accelerators (also known as linacs) and circular accelerators. Linacs accelerate particles in a straight line, while circular accelerators use magnets to bend the particles into a circular path.

4. What are particle accelerators used for?

Particle accelerators have a wide range of applications in scientific research, including studying the fundamental building blocks of matter, creating and studying exotic particles, and researching the properties of materials. They are also used in medical applications, such as cancer therapy and medical imaging.

5. What is the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and why is it important?

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is the world's largest and most powerful particle accelerator. It is located at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Switzerland and is used to study the fundamental properties of matter by colliding protons at incredibly high energies. The LHC has played a crucial role in many groundbreaking discoveries in particle physics, including the discovery of the Higgs boson in 2012.

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