Device that accelerates a beam of fast-moving, electrically charged atoms (ions) or subatomic particles. Accelerators are used to study the structure of atomic nuclei (see atom) and the nature of subatomic particles and their fundamental interactions. At speeds close to that of light, particles collide with and disrupt atomic nuclei and subatomic particles, allowing physicists to study nuclear components and to make new kinds of subatomic particles. The cyclotron accelerates positively charged particles, while the betatron accelerates negatively charged electrons. Synchrotrons and linear accelerators are used either with positively charged particles or electrons. Accelerators are also used for radioisotope production, cancer therapy, biological sterilization, and one form of radiocarbon dating.

Learn more about particle accelerator with a free trial on Britannica.com.

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.

Learn more about linear accelerator with a free trial on Britannica.com.

• Accelerator (car) (also gas pedal), that controls the engine speed of an automobile
• accelerator (chemistry), a substance that increases the rate of a chemical reaction
• Accelerator (computing) to speed a function in computer hardware
• Accelerator (business) (also business incubator), a business operation that offers advice and resources to help small businesses grow quickly
• Accelerator (library), a data parallel library being developed by Microsoft Research that allows data parallel programs to be written that runs on the GPU
• Accelerator, an album by the Future Sound of London.
• Accelerator, an album by Bjørn Lynne
• Accelerator, an album by Royal Trux
• Accelerator effect, the economic stimulus to private fixed investment that occurs due to growth in aggregate demand
• Particle accelerator, a device which uses electric and/or magnetic fields to propel electrically charged particles to high speeds
• Accelerator Coaster, a roller-coaster that uses hydrolic acceleration
• Accelerator (song), a song by The O.A.O.T.'s in their album, Typical. This song appears in Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam
• Accelerator (film)(2000), a film by director Vinny Murphy.