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A2 Physics WJEC PH5

Hey :smile: One of the topics for the WJEC PH5 exam is the B-fields stuff and under it comes linear cyclotrons and synchrotron's, our teacher didn't teach it to us properly we barely went over it and I have no clue what they are, how they work etc. and I've been looking at past papers and a few questions based on these have come up and I literally can't answer them at all! Could anyone please explain to me what exactly they are and how it works pls? :-(
Original post by underlyinggirl
Hey :smile: One of the topics for the WJEC PH5 exam is the B-fields stuff and under it comes linear cyclotrons and synchrotron's, our teacher didn't teach it to us properly we barely went over it and I have no clue what they are, how they work etc. and I've been looking at past papers and a few questions based on these have come up and I literally can't answer them at all! Could anyone please explain to me what exactly they are and how it works pls? :-(


They're types of particle accelerators but I don't want to confuse you by trying to explain it really seeing as you probably need a visual explanation. Our teacher showed up how it all worked with drawings, 3D models and diagrams which worked but I can't exactly recreate it. Without too much detail, they basically use metal plates connected to an AC supply plus a magnetic field to accelerate the particles.
In a linear cyclotron, the particle is sent in a straight line through varying polarities so as the polarities switch (AC) the particle gets repelled from one and attracted to the next. We did it with protons so say it's going from a positive plate and going to a negative one then when it's halfway across the negative one they switch to the negative one goes positive so the proton gets repelled to the next plate which is negative and so on and so forth.
Cyclotrons have two 'D' plates with opposite polarities, again connected to an AC supply. There's a magnetic field perpendicular to the plates then using FLHR the force is to the centre of the plates, centripetal force. The proton starts to rotate and is accelerated between the plates (AC supply switches roughly halfway again) in an increasing circle because it's getting faster and faster until eventually it leaves the plates completely.
Synchrotrons are similar to cyclotrons but the proton is accelerated 4 times as opposed to 2 because there's 4 plates with AC supply. The proton goes in a circle through these varying polarity plates again but this time the circle radius stays constant because the AC frequency increases to deal with the increasing speed.

I would explain it more but I feel like you need diagrams etc. so I'd say look it up and try to understand it as much as you can with youtube videos etc. then go and see your teacher for a 1-to-1 explanation.
Thank you so much! I have diagrams of them luckily and you're explanation has helped me understand so much better :smile:
Original post by underlyinggirl
Thank you so much! I have diagrams of them luckily and you're explanation has helped me understand so much better :smile:

No problem, sorry I couldn't be any more help. Just a tip, next time you reply directly to someone, use the 'Reply' or '+"' button so they get a notification :smile:

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