Jump to content

huge accelerator


ydoaPs

Recommended Posts

would it be possible to have a giant particle accelerator in orbit around the sun?

 

find a nice, big space(like between some of the farther planets) and have some strategically placed asteroids with powerful magnets orbit the sun.

 

well, could it work?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1) Yes it would work

 

2) Do you realize the distances you are talking about here? If we had the technology to make such a device, I doubt the experiments we would be carrying out with such a device would be all that useful.

 

I'm not sure what you're talking about with "strategically placed asteroids with powerful magnets orbit the sun." Put magnets on asteroids? For what purpose? I really dont get it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

what would the advantage of a super-giant accelerator as opposed to the ones we have at the moment?

 

i mean, assuming you are talking about particle acclerators, dont they go fast enough at the moment?

 

also the could build one in a desert or something and it'd be a lot cheaper than launching one into space!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The larger radius you have, the less powerful the magnetic field has to be to have the same speed, and, similarly, the faster you can go with the same magnetic field.

 

The particle accelerators we're using at the moment don't produce anywhere near the energy for the collisions we'd like to investigate, hence the building of things such as the LHC at Cern.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It wouldn't work' date=' because the engineering constraints are so enormous.

 

It's a small step from this to a dyson sphere, you know.[/quote']

 

 

I was going to point that out as well, but he never specifically states that it would be a ring around the sun. He just says it would be in orbit somewhere where there was a lot of room. I am inclined to agree that thats what he meant, but its possible he didn't meant that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, there is that. But given that you have probably already smelted anything local that was big enough to puncture it, you can always add more complexity when the superstructure is in place, and it's getting that erected in a stable fashion that's the only really physicsy problem (apart from the giant numbers and such).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

the only other potential problem I can see, would be that of Particles being emited from the sun coliding at a 90 degree angle with the particle(s) you`re accelerating.

 

a bit like firing a gun or driving a truck with a severe cross wind. Either that or I`m misunderstanding the purpose of this idea?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 5 months later...
']1) Yes it would work

 

2) Do you realize the distances you are talking about here? If we had the technology to make such a device' date=' I doubt the experiments we would be carrying out with such a device would be all that useful.

 

I'm not sure what you're talking about with "strategically placed asteroids with powerful magnets orbit the sun." Put magnets on asteroids? For what purpose? I really dont get it.[/quote']

 

 

actually we do hav the technology to do this,the blockhead gov just doesnt want to spend the money on it

anyway its called a MASS DRIVER which is basically like a huge tunnel in space lined with electromagnets

then when a spacraft goes in the electromagnets go on in a seqeunce launching the ship out the other end at unimaginable speeds

Link to comment
Share on other sites

its called a MASS DRIVER which is basically like a huge tunnel in space lined with electromagnets

then when a spacraft goes in the electromagnets go on in a seqeunce launching the ship out the other end at unimaginable speeds

 

 

I imagine that tunnel-o-magnets would have a pretty wicked recoil. That's not something you'd like to have to deal with.

 

An Ion engin, which has been developed, can also be considered a mass driver and is simpler to boot. You send electrons wizzing off the back of your engine at speeds close to the speed of light. The electron flies off one way, your ship flys off the other.

 

Sure it might take you forever to get up to any considerable speed, but the top speed of such an engine can be measured as fractions of c. No other propulson that physically exist can claim that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

thats what a mass driver is!

it is supposed to shoot the ship out the back end with virtually no recoil

 

ion engines need fuel but a mass driver would only need electricity from the sun, and it would get u there faster

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There's no way the system, as you describe, will not have some form of recoil.

 

For every action there is an opposite and equal action acting on the system.

 

The tunnel-o'-magnets flings the ship forward, conversely, the ship flings the tunnel-o'-magnets backwards. The tunnel may way many times more than the ship, so the speed of tunnel's travel will be smaller, but never the less it will still occur.

 

The only way around the recoil issue would be to fling a mass equal to the ship in the opposite direction. Seems kinda wasteful.

 

There's also the problem of once you've been launched, how do you manuver?, and more importantly, how do you slow back down? Since the launch apparatus is not part of your ship, you'll need to be 'caught' by another set magnets and astroids.

 

I wouldn't want to be the first guy fired out of this thing only to find out there's nothing waiting to catch you on the other side.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.