Can You Build a Particle Accelerator at Home?

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Building a particle accelerator at home is technically possible, but it requires significant expertise and resources. Small-scale accelerators, like cyclotrons, can be constructed using basic components such as a vacuum pump and electrodes, but achieving high energies, especially for antimatter production, is impractical without advanced technology. Discussions highlight that while some individuals have successfully built accelerators, the complexity and safety regulations, particularly for handling radioactive materials, pose challenges. The conversation also touches on the historical context of homemade accelerators and the potential for simple experiments with low-energy particle beams. Overall, while feasible for advanced hobbyists, creating a functional particle accelerator at home is not straightforward and involves considerable effort and knowledge.
  • #31
rajeshpamula said:
I have a question on energy levels in accelerator. I see LHC has energy level of 14 TeV, which is less than even 1 joule and 1 Joule of energy can be obtained at no cost. Then what makes the accelerator design so difficult?

This is not a matter of simply radiating a little heat: two particles are each accelerated so that each one is at 7 TeV. THAT takes a load of magnets, and a lot of electricity. The key here is: they are accelerated.
 
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  • #32
ATCG said:
I would be trying to create anti-matter
If the LHC were to try to generate 1 single gram of anti-matter it would cost them 400 quadrillion dollars to run and 100 billion years for the machine to run...Soz no anti-matter :/
 
  • #33
Did you happen to notice that the post you responded to is seven years old? :rolleyes:
 
  • #34
7-years old. Hahaha! I think I've done that myself on another thread.
Makes me curious if Fred finished his book.
 
  • #35
Does anyone know if Fred ever finished his book?

I am starting to work on building a linear particle accelerator and would love to read what he has to say:
 
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  • #36
Hello,

I am a second year student industrial engineer in nuclear technology and I am looking for some blueprints / building plans so I can make a 3D drawing of a particle accelerator. If someone can give me a blueprint that I can build myself I would be even more happy cause then I would make it my bachelor project in my third trimester.

I hope someone can help me!
 
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  • #37
Hello,

Just wondering what kind of pressures are required for experimentation with a linear accelerator similar to the one described here:

http://www.ifpan.edu.pl/firststep/aw-works/fsII/alt/altineller.pdf

I know they say it must be at 0.1 microns - would it still be posssible to experiment at pressures at about 10 microns? Vacuum pumps that go to those pressures are hard to find, and very expensive, particularly here in England.

Also, has anyone tried using a Tesla coil to power a linac, or would a Cockcroft-Walton multiplier be a better way to go? I can't find much on Tesla coil particle accelerators.
 
  • #38
There are many questions here about construction of an accelerator but my information is lacking in measurement methods. For instance, proton to target timing so that velocity can be calculated. High voltage measurement methods, possible sources for such equipment. My searches on the web don't take this aspect of construction into account. Oh, as I remember the article in Scientific American, Amateur Scientist, was for the construction of a Crookes tube and one way to test it was to expose a piece of photo paper to take a shadowgraph of the target plate.
 
  • #39
This thread is almost a decade old.
 

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