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cyclotron

   Also found in: Medical, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.03 sec.
cy·clo·tron  (skl-trn)
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.
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cyclotron

cyclotron
Noun
an apparatus, used in atomic research, which accelerates charged particles by means of a strong vertical magnetic field

cyclotron  (skl-trn)
A type of particle accelerator that accelerates charged subatomic particles, such as protons and electrons, in an outwardly spiraling path, greatly increasing their energies. Cyclotrons are used to bring about high-speed particle collisions in order to study subatomic structures. Compare linear accelerator. See also synchrocyclotron. See Note at particle accelerator.
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cyclotron
An alternating electric field attracts the particles from one side of the cyclotron to the other. The cyclotron's magnetic field, generated by the two electromagnets, bends each particle's path into a horizontal spiral, forcing it to accelerate in order to keep up with the alternating electric field. When the particle reaches its peak acceleration it is released to collide with the desired target.
ThesaurusLegend:  Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
Noun1.cyclotron - an accelerator that imparts energies of several million electron-volts to rapidly moving particles
atom smasher, particle accelerator, accelerator - a scientific instrument that increases the kinetic energy of charged particles
bevatron - a cyclotron that accelerates protons up to several billion electron volts
synchrocyclotron - cyclotron that achieves relativistic velocities by modulating the frequency of the accelerating electric field
synchrotron - cyclotron in which the electric field is maintained at a constant frequency

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The concrete was used as shielding material for a small cyclotron in a PET imaging facility that is now under construction in Nagano City.
You have to be within striking distance of a cyclotron," says Quake, but these machines are fairly well distributed across the United States.
Leuschner, Indiana University Cyclotron Facility 5:15-5:30 Performance of a New Ultracold Neutron Source at Los Alamos National Lab A.
 
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