How To Build a Fully Functional Cyclotron With Things you Find Around the House By Chris Clark

If you're anything like me you have always wanted a cyclotron to call your own. Who wouldn't enjoy testing the pricipals of relativity in their back yard or basement? Now you can, and you don't have to buy all of that fancy equipment!

1 Car tire or innertube
Assorted popsicle sticks
1 12,000 ft. Extension cord
1 5 ft pole
1 Ph.D in Astrophysics (not necessary, but it helps)
2 Friends (best if he/she is dimwitted)
1 Automobile (best if capable of travelling at supersonic speeds)
1 Marble

Place the tire on its side on the ground and/or floor. Using popsicle sticks, suspend it off of the surface delicately. A beveled truss may be your best bet as far as popsicle stick configurations. Just make sure the weight distribution is uniform over the popsicle sticks. Given proper procedure, the use of adhesives or more reliable building products will not be necessary. Take your time and do it right!

Place the marble on the inside of the tire, then have the first friend hold the pole upright touching the floor and going through the space in the middle of the tire. Make sure this "friend" is really a friend, because if you have doubts about your friendship he/she may grip the pole loosly causing the tire to be dragged through the walls of your house and anything in its path when the experiment is performed.

Pierce the tire's perimeter and wedge one end of the extension chord into this hole. Lash the other end of the chord onto the bumper of your automobile, leaving the rest neatly coiled in between. Be aware, if there are any knots in the cord that may prevent the steady uncoiling of it, remove them. No coil the cord around the tire, so the cord extended between bumber and tire is a short as possible.

Now to begin! Have the remaining friend drive in a straight line for 12,000 ft, causing the tire to spin. The friend with the pole should keep the tire from flying aimlessly out of its designated are and the popsicle sticks will give the tire a low initial friction. At this point it may be safe to apply butter or WD-40 as a lubricant where the tire meets the popsicle sticks.

When the tire is spinning at incredible speeds, peer inside. Take a good look at the marble. Observe its length. Using your Ph.D determine the relativisting alterations in length to determine the rotational speed of the tire. Viola!

The faster the car goes, the more length and mass the marble (and tire) has. Your cyclotron is complete! You didn't even have to use volatile chemicals in the process. However, if you would like to use volatile chemicals, replace the marble with a sphere of compressed cesium. wear gloves though, that stuff burns!

Enjoy testing modern physics. Someday, when you have the means, try making a real cyclotron! The only difference is the scientists that are government funded use logs instead of popsicle sticks, used sewer pipes in a ring orientation instead of a tire, crane cables instead of extension cords, and the space shuttle instead of your friend's car. Otherwise, everything is exactly the same.

Trust me. You're not missing anything.