Exploring Magnetic Monopoles: Questions from a Beginner

[Unix60959]

Hey guys, I'm new to this forum and I have no formal degree or education in physics of any type, but I'm very interested in physics and only know what I've researched on my own. I know that magnetic monopoles are not supposed to exist, although I did read of some experiments that yielded monopoles under unpractical circumstances. Anyway, I was watching a video about the LHC and how they strip electrons from the nucleus of a hydrogen atom, leaving the proton, so most of you know since the proton is positively charged it can be accelerated by electromagnets blah, blah, blah. In this case would the proton effectively be a monopole? I don't know anything about quantum physics so please hit me with as much information as possible :)

thanks,


Unix60959

 

[Pythagorean]

Atomic particles that have magnetic fields associated with them have a north and a south pole, making them dipolar.

 

[bongas]

leaving the proton, so most of you know since the proton is positively charged it can be accelerated by electromagnets

I think that you are wrong over here, protons can not be accelerated its the deficiency of electrons which causes a positive charge on any atom...ergo protons can not move its electrons moving in the opposite directions (which ppl normally call protons moving like you )

Anyone agrees ?

 

[Dr Lots-o'watts]

An atom that is missing an electron has a +1 positive charge, and so does a proton, and they both can be accelerated by electromagnets.

Unix don't confuse electric (+) and (-) with magnetic north and south. They are related but different.

 

[sophiecentaur]

I think that you are wrong over here, protons can not be accelerated its the deficiency of electrons which causes a positive charge on any atom...ergo protons can not move its electrons moving in the opposite directions (which ppl normally call protons moving like you )

Anyone agrees ?

You'd better get a message to CERN about that, pretty quickly. They are relying on the fact that (they think) protons have a positive charge and can be accelerated by an electric field.

 

[Unix60959]

An atom that is missing an electron has a +1 positive charge, and so does a proton, and they both can be accelerated by electromagnets.

Unix don't confuse electric (+) and (-) with magnetic north and south. They are related but different.

thanks a lot man, that does make sense. my thinking is that, if a proton can be accelerated by and electromagnet it should be able to be accelerated by a permanent magnet right?

 

[Dr Lots-o'watts]

Look at this link. In CERN's LHC, this is how electromagnets are configured to accelerate charged particles. The first and second diagram show how either permanent or electromagnets are positioned.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quadrupole_magnet

The particle beam goes through/in between the magnet ends. CERN's LHC has 392 of these so-called quadrupole (electro-)magnets in series, successively giving a kick to the accelerated particle. It also has an additional 1232 dipole (electro-)magnets.

 

[Unix60959]

@ dr lots-o'watts

from what i read by following your link, that setup of magnets is used to steer and focus the electron beam, not accelerate it. my question is, can a permanent magnet push a proton by using repelling forces and pull a proton with attraction forces?

 

[Born2bwire]

@ dr lots-o'watts

from what i read by following your link, that setup of magnets is used to steer and focus the electron beam, not accelerate it. my question is, can a permanent magnet push a proton by using repelling forces and pull a proton with attraction forces?

Hmmm... a permanent magnet... no. A static magnetic field can accelerate a particle but it can't add energy to it. If I placed a moving charged particle in a static magnetic field it would just be accelerated to move into a circle and its kinetic energy remains the same. Instead, electric fields are used to accelerate the charged particles to add kinetic energy. The electric fields do the work, the magnetic fields steer and direct the charges.

One simple kind of particle accelerator is a cyclotron. A cyclotron is a spiral tube setup that is split in the middle to look like the letter D and its mirror image (circle cut in half). A constant magnetic field is applied so that an injected charged particle moves in a circular motion. A voltage is applied across the gap in the dees to create an electric field. The electric field accelerates the charge, the magnetic field directs it in a circular motion. Since the magnetic field is constant, as the charge moves faster the radius of motion increases and that is why the cyclotron is built as a spiral. So the charge particle is injected into the center of the spiral and it moves in a circle due to the magnetic field. The electric field across the gap is alternating so that it pulls the charge toward the gap and then pushes it away from the gap. Each time the charge crosses the gap it gets a boost and its radius increases until it finally works its way to the outer ring of the spiral and exits the cyclotron.

A synchrotron syncronizes the electric and magnetic fields so that the radius of the curved path is always the same. This way we do not need the spiraling design that we find in cyclotrons.

 

[sophiecentaur]

A (static) magnetic field can accelerate (change the velocity of) a moving charged particle but only in as far as the direction is changed. Its Kinetic Energy will not be changed because the Force and Distance traveled are at right angles - hence no work is done and the speed is not changed.

The reason that magnets are used is that they are much more effective in deflecting the moving particle in a curve.

 

[sophiecentaur]

Can someone explain where l wippler's post went?
I click on the link in the notification email and I get here - without being able to see the post.
Perhaps he deleted it?