Can we build an Atom Smasher like Michio Kaku at our age?

[Farquezy]

Me and a friend are sophmores in high school, I'm a big fan of Michio kaku and aware that he created a Atom Smasher at our age, and we want to do the same.

We think that this would be a great project and could land us many great opportunities.
I was wondering as to how we could go about accomplishing this.

Should we try, if so, where can we go to learn how to? ( we googled and didnt get anything useful)
If not, what is a great project we could do that would land us great prestige and at the same time be a awesome learning experience.

I didnt know if where i should put this, please move it to the correct place if its not

 

[FoxCommander]

I think the best way to start is to find out how the atom smasher works. It has a lot to do with Electromagnetism such as voltage charge magnetic fields. Talk to your physics teachers about it, perferably an AP physics teacher. Once you know how it works you could start finding out what you need to make it work and go from there

Goodluck with your project sounds freaking sweet!

 

[Farquezy]

I think the best way to start is to find out how the atom smasher works. It has a lot to do with Electromagnetism such as voltage charge magnetic fields. Talk to your physics teachers about it, perferably an AP physics teacher. Once you know how it works you could start finding out what you need to make it work and go from there

Goodluck with your project sounds freaking sweet!

Thats exactly what we were thinking, we went on howstuffworks.com and started reading on it.
But i guess asking my Physics teacher would be a the best idea.

The thing it, I am not sure if my physics teacher knows anything about building one, so where can i go to learn about how to build it.

As you said, i guess we should take baby steps and first learn how it works.
thanks

 

[FoxCommander]

Yes that is a good place to start from (the website)

But don't make it a main source. Dont ask your proffesor about how to build one but the concepts that make it work. One concept is the effect of a magnetic field on a proton/electron. that's just one to get it started i guess. Try to find books and just start reading, trust me its going to be a long road until you guys can start building it.

Message me if you guys need some more hints so i can point you in the right direction.


FoxCommander

 

[Bob S]

A good place to start is downloading and studying this free book by Stan Humphries on "Principles of Charged Particle Acceleration":

http://www.fieldp.com/cpa.html

This book covers both electrostatic (Van de Graaph, Cockroft-Walton, etc.) and circular (cyclotrons, betatrons, etc).

Bob S

 

[jinksys]

From an article I read, Kaku said:

It was powerful enough to pull fillings out of teeth, but the only thing it smashed was the house.

 

[tmyer2107]

If you are serious about this project then it is doable but will take you many many hours of research before you can truly understand what it involved. I agree with FoxCommander, start of by speaking with your physics teacher about the concepts, don't just ask how to build one. You really need to know the physics behind it before you can understand how to start building one. Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[Farquezy]

thanks, i went and asked my teacher and he fully supported us, great idea guys thank you

 

[TMFKAN64]

You might want to start by building a simple particle detector, such as a cloud chamber.

After all, it wouldn't do if you were smashing atoms, but couldn't detect what you were doing!

 

[jtbell]

Amazingly enough , this has been discussed on PF before. I did a Google search on "how to build a particle accelerator" and at the very top was a list of PF threads!