Thursday, October 29, 2009

Cyclotron

A cyclotron is a type of particle accelerator. Cyclotrons accelerate charged particles using a high-frequency, alternating voltage (potential difference). A perpendicular magnetic field causes the particles to spiral almost in a circle so that they re-encounter the accelerating voltage many times.

Ernest Lawrence, of the University of California, Berkeley, is credited with the development of the cyclotron in 1929, though others had been working along similar lines at the time

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