The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is the largest particle collider in the world, with a ring about 16 miles (27 kilometers) in circumference. It accelerates particles to nearly the speed of light using close to 9,600 magnets, comprised of about 10,000 tons of iron, more than in the Eiffel Tower. These magnets are made up of coils of filaments that, if they were unraveled, would stretch to the sun and back five times with enough left over for a few trips to the moon. The largest of the LHCs magnets weigh 35 tons, and are about 50 feet (15 meters) long. They can generate a magnetic field more than 100,000 times more powerful than Earths. These magnets require cooling from liquid helium, making the LHC the largest refrigerator in the world — the magnets operate at temperatures of minus 456.3 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 271.3 degrees Celsius), colder than outer space. Now, the LHC is set to return in 2015 nearly twice as powerful as its first run from 2010 to 2013. Doubling the energy will have a huge impact on the search for new particles at LHC, said experimental particle physicist Gabriella Sciolla, of Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts, who works on the ATLAS experiment at the LHC. The higher the energy, the heavier the particle one can possibly produce.
Posted on: Sat, 27 Dec 2014 20:32:02 +0000
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