Editing Accelerators (section)

== Demonstration ==

;Preparation: Set up the accelerator rail: Place the magnets in their marked spots underneath the rail, and lock them in place by putting a large marble on the other side of the rail. On the front side of each large marble, place a series of small metal marbles until the last one in the series is only barely attracted to the one beside it. For the last series, place the smallest marble on the end. Place a target just past the rail to catch the last marble when it is launched.
;Presentation:
# Ask the students to give examples of acceleration. Explain that acceleration is an increasing velocity over time.
# Take out the slingshot, and explain that the ball is accelerated until the rubber band is no longer pushing it away. Ask the students if they can think of a way to accelerate the ball even more after you launch it, without slowing it down. After taking ideas, explain that this is how a particle accelerator works, such as FRIB or the NSCL.
# Show the magnet accelerator setup, and use a medium sized metal marble to activate the chain reaction. When you roll the marble into the first series, they will all fire the last marbles in their chains, and the last marble fired will be moving really fast!