A giant particle accelerator at UK
Question: What is the cylindrical tower in front of the UK Chemistry-Physics Bldg?
Answer: UK Physics Professor Emeritus Marcus McEllistrem described the building’s purpose as being a particle accelerator used to do studies of nuclear reactions and to study the composition and structure of nuclei (the positively charged central portion of atoms – the plural is nucleus).
The original accelerator was built and installed between 1964-1965 and the interior was completely rebuilt between 1989-1990.
The accelerator is a 7 million-volt machine that needs to be encased in a high pressure steel structure in order to contain this high voltage. It also weights about 32 tons and is one of the few remaining accelerators left in the U.S. of this type and size.
Linda Niemi
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My mother was a public school librarian. I earned a bachelor’s degree in music and a master’s degree in library and information science from the University of Kentucky. The Herald-Leader hired me as a news assistant 25 years ago; soon after, I moved to the news research department, where I’ve been ever since. We used to clip newspapers. Now, almost all of our research is online. We've come a long way.