• Question: What sort of speeds are the particles moving at?

    Asked by anmla to James_M on 19 Jun 2011.
    • Photo: James M Monk

      James M Monk answered on 19 Jun 2011:

      As near as makes no difference to the speed of light. At those very high speeds relativity tells us that an increase in energy makes only a tiny difference to the speed. That’s why we always quote the particle’s energy (in GeV, for example) rather than its speed.

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