Build Your Own Cyclotron

mindpixel writes "Physics Today is running a story about Tim Koeth's 12 inch cyclotron. Here's a quote that says it all: 'I was sitting in Tom Devlin's modern physics lecture. He described the principle of the cyclotron. He said it required a lot of RF power. I was--and am--a ham radio operator, so RF was no problem. It needed a big magnet; I knew I could find one of those. How tough could a vacuum system and chamber be?'"

Comments

cyclotron

[That's Unpossible!]

n. A circular particle accelerator in which charged subatomic particles generated at a central source are accelerated spirally outward in a plane perpendicular to a fixed magnetic field by an alternating electric field. A cyclotron is capable of generating particle energies between a few million and several tens of millions of electron volts.

Re:cyclotron

[olivermoffat]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclotron

Re:Next can some enterprising physics student do..

[Hentai]

Already done.

No big deal.....

[CharlieG]

Folks,
Go out and get yourself a copy of "The Amateur Scientist" collection on CD.

For those of you who are too young to remember the column, or before it was dumbed down, Scientific American had a column called "The Amateur Scientist" - they had plans for a cyclotron, a SERIOUSLY high power CO2 laser and LOTS of other things that could get you hurt in a real hurry. And they showed REAL experiments, and REAL science in that column.

Of course, that was before SciAmerican got dumbed down, became half ads, and became PC - you could actually find desenting views in REAL papers

Re:12" magnet weighing 2.5 ton?

[MmmDee]

Look for magnet details here.

Height: 36 inches (91cm)

Width:42 inches (106.5cm)

Depth:12 inchs (30cm)

Pole Diameter:12 inches (30cm)

Yoke Cross Section:72sq.inches (450sq.cm.) per yoke (double that for total circuit area)

Total Weight: 4,600 pounds

-each coil:800 pounds

-Iron:3,000 pounds

Power Consumption (max. operating conditions): 4kW (80 V @ 50 A)

Cooling Requirements: Water flow approx 2 GPM

Re:Yeah right

[isaac]

yeah, i'm curious too. If it's 12in diameter and say 2 feet tall from that picture (if it's taking all the vertical space in the frame). Then I come up with it weighing ~800 lbs if made of iron. I would guess it's made of some crazy ceramic type matarial, still don't see it making 1.5 ton, would have to have a density of ~1.0 lb/in^3

The pole diameter is only 12 inches but the yoke and coils are included in that figure. Total weight is 4600 lbs for the magnet assembly - each coil is 800 lbs and the iron yoke and pole assembly is 3000 lbs.

http://www.physics.rutgers.edu/cyclotron/12inchmag .shtml

-Isaac

Re:I made a cloud chamber once...

[deglr6328]

pfft, this guy built a cyclotron IN HIGH SCHOOL by himself and used it to demonstrate "particle mass resonace" he won the ISEF (used to be westinghouse) with it. Oh and he also was a consultant on accelerator technology for the show "stephen hawkings universe" shown on bbc and pbs. Not cool enough for you. Well he also built a breeder reactor to win a scavenger hunt.

Re:Sounds dangerous

[uberdave]

In the books "The Cylon Death Machine" and "Battlestar Galactica", Cylons are a reptilian race and they wear body armour. As they progress through the ranks, some of them would be augmented with second brains. If they had the right body type, they would be awarded a third brain, and rise to the rank of Imperious Leader.