Large Hadron Collider goes 3.5 TeV: New world record

William Atkins
Saturday, 20 March 2010 01:30

Science - Energy

On March 19, 2010, CERN’s Large Hadron Collider set a new world mark when it circulated two proton beams, each at 3.5 TeV. The next step is to collide these two beams as they go at such tremendous energies. What a collision!

 

 

According to the March 19, 2010 CERN press release “LHC sets new record – accelerates beam to 3.5 TeV,” the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) achieved the highest energy ever achieved in a particle accelerator when, at 5:20 a.m. local Geneva, Switzerland time, it successfully circulated two 3.5 TeV proton beams.

Steve Myers, the director for CERN’s Accelerators and Technology, stated in the CERN article, “Getting the beams to 3.5 TeV is testimony to the soundness of the LHC’s overall design, and the improvements we’ve made since the breakdown in September 2008. And it’s a great credit to the patience and dedication of the LHC team.”

The next step is to collide these two proton beams while they are circulating inside the LHC at 3.5 TeV per beam—for a total energy level of 7 Tera-electron volts (TeV).

The date for that world record will be announced in the near future.

An electron volt (eV) is the kinetic energy gained by an electron (e) passing through a potential difference of one volt (V). One electron volt (1 eV) is equal to 1.602 x 10^-19 joules. And, one trillion (10¹²) eV is equal to 1 TeV.

More information about “How Big is an Electron Volt?”, visit the Fermilab website.

Page two discusses some records and accomplishments for the Large Hadron Collider over the past four or so months.