Skip to main content

Large Hadron Collider

Image result for large hadron collider
The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is the world’s largest and most powerful particle accelerator. The LHC is the largest machine in the world. It took thousands of scientists, engineers and technicians decades to plan and build, and it continues to operate at the very boundaries of scientific knowledge. It first started up on 10 September 2008, and remains the latest addition to CERN’s accelerator complex. The LHC consists of a 27-kilometre ring of superconducting magnets with a number of accelerating structures to boost the energy of the particles along the way.

Image result for large hadron collider
Map of LHC (located in Geneva, Switzerland)
Thousands of magnets of different varieties and sizes are used to direct the beams around the accelerator.  Just prior to collision, another type of magnet is used to "squeeze" the particles closer together to increase the chances of collisions. The particles are so tiny that the task of making them collide is akin to firing two needles 10 kilometres apart with such precision that they meet halfway.

Image result for large hadron collider

Fast Facts:


1. It cost £2.6bn to build

2. It houses 9300 magnets – pre-cooled to -193.2C, using 10,080 tonnes of liquid nitrogen. They are then taken down to -271.3C with liquid helium.

3. It fires protons and lead ions around a 17mile circular tunnel.

4. The protons, when the machine is cranked up to full power, travel at a mind-blowing 99.9999991% of the speed of light – or 11,245 laps every second – or 671,000,000 mph.

5. 600m collisions take place every second.

6. The collisions generate temperatures more than 100,000 times hotter than the heart of the Sun.

7. The inside of the accelerator is an ultra-high vacuum – a cavity as empty as interplanetary space. This is so the protons avoid collisions with gas molecules.


8. A total of 10,000 scientists and engineers from more than 60 countries work on LHC.

9. The most powerful supercomputer system in the world was built to analyse the data generated by the LHC. It’s called the Grid and is formed from tens of thousands of interconnected computers scattered around the world. The data recorded by each of the big experiments at the LHC will fill around 100,000 dual-layer DVDs every year.

10. There’s even an LHC rap, which pretty much explains everything (see below).


















(relevant)

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Physics of Sound Dampeners and Active Noise Cancellation

Physics of Sound Dampeners and Active Noise Cancellation Sound dampening foam panels in a recording studio. ANC headphones worn by pilots and/or passengers in consumer aviation aircraft.  Acoustic treatment of soundscapes has grown alongside the sound production industry. Whether through absorption panels, diffusors and cloud panels to treat a space or headphones placed directly over the ears of listeners, acoustic treatment comes in many forms. Environments are treated acoustically to absorb excess sound to prevent sound levels from crossing a threshold above which the desired goal cannot be had. Before getting into sound dampening, we must discuss sound. Sound is produced when an object vibrates (a form of oscillation) and temporarily displaces nearby air molecules causing a wave effect as the displaced molecules collide with their neighboring molecules. Sound waves are fluctuations in pressure as the initial displacement of molecules experiences collisions that in ...

Aerodynamics of a Golf Ball

One may wonder how a small golf ball can travel at incredibly high speeds for such long distances.  While the swing of the club is a major component, the structure of the golf ball is quite important.  Unlike a baseball or tennis ball, a golf ball has dimples all over it (usually 336 dimples).  These dimples allow the golf ball to travel without facing much air resistance.  This diagram shows how air travels around the golf ball. The dimples on the golf ball also prevent drag that would occur in the wake region, resulting in further distance.  Also due to the contact with the club during the swing, the golf ball has backspin during its entire flight.  This diagram shows the motion of the golf ball mid flight with the lift force of F. There are hundreds of different types of golf balls that a player can choose.  Some show little affect to a player's game while others can alter their performance completely.  Personally, I prefer Callaway Supers...