How does a particle accelerator work and what is its purpose?

Question

How does a particle accelerator work and what is its purpose?

Answer 1

Byron is close...

The use electromagnets (usually superconducting ones to save power) to confine beams of charged particles and then accelerate those particles using oscillatingelectric fields at radio frequencies.

The purpose is to get particles to very high energies so that when they are collided with one another reactions occur between those particles that requrie such high energy.

Answer 2

they use electro-magnets to accelerate sub-atomic particles to near lightspeed and collide them together.  this is done to study the scientific effects of the collision.

Answer 3

is thats how they created anti-matter in Angels and Deamons by Dan Brown?

Answer 4

They accelerate particles, such as protons, to near light speed (high kinetic energy) and collide them into target atoms. This produces a stream of subatomic particles and radiation, which are detected and analyzed.

The information reveals the particles that make up the atom and the forces that hold the atom together. Richard Feynman once described the process to smashing a watch and anylzing the constituant parts to determie how the watch was put together.