What is Particle accelerator?
{{unsourced|date=August 2009}} {{Antimatter}} A '''particle accelerator''', also called an '''[[atom]] smasher''',<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://science.howstuffworks.com/atom-smasher.htm|title=How Atom Smashers Work|date=2001-02-05|website=HowStuffWorks|language=en|access-date=2019-12-11}}</ref> is a [[machine]] that accelerates (speeds up) [[particles]] and makes them travel at very high speeds. Accelerators work by pushing particles like [[electrons]], [[protons]], or [[Atomic nucleus|atomic nuclei (the centers of atoms)]] with [[electric field]]s and by steering them with magnetic fields. Their main use is to study [[particle physics]]. The largest accelerators are used to study [[subatomic particles|particles smaller than atoms]]; smaller accelerators are used to study atomic nuclei and make [[radioactive]] materials. There are two kinds of particle accelerators: linear accelerators and circular accelerators. Linear accelerators move the particles in a [[line]], while circular accelerators move the particles in a [[circle]]. One [[example]] of a '''particle accelerator''' is the [[Large Hadron Collider]] at [[CERN]]. It is very [[big]], stretching through two [[countries]]. Another example is the [[Tevatron]] in the [[United States]]. The [[cathode ray tube]], used in 20th century [[television]]s and [[computer monitor]]s is also a simple accelerator for electrons. When accelerated particles hit other particles such as atoms, smaller pieces come out. This helps people see particles smaller than an atom. Normally those particles cannot be seen, but they can in the particle accelerator. This is because in some ways energy and matter are the same thing. At the high speed created in these machines, some of the [[Kinetic energy|movement energy]] is changed into [[matter]]. It is the opposite process that [[nuclear weapon]]s use; nuclear weapons turn matter into energy. Small amounts of [[antimatter]] are also created during the process. [[File:27-inch cyclotron.jpg|thumb|left|A [[cyclotron]] accelerates