linear accelerator

linear accelerator

noun

Definition of LINEAR ACCELERATOR

: a device in which charged particles are accelerated in a straight line by successive impulses from a series of electric fields

First Known Use of LINEAR ACCELERATOR

1945

linear accelerator

noun    (Medical Dictionary)

Medical Definition of LINEAR ACCELERATOR

: an accelerator in which particles are propelled in a straight line and receive successive increments of energy through the application of alternating potentials to a series of electrodes and gaps

linear accelerator

noun    (Concise Encyclopedia)

Type of particle accelerator that imparts a series of relatively small increases in energy to subatomic particles as they pass through a sequence of alternating electric fields set up in a linear structure. The small accelerations add together to give the particles a greater energy than could be achieved by the voltage used in one section alone. One of the world's longest linacs is the 2-mi (3.2-km) machine at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, which can accelerate electrons to energies of 50 billion electron volts. Much smaller linacs, both proton and electron types, have important practical applications in medicine and industry.

Variants of LINEAR ACCELERATOR

linear accelerator or linac