Linear accelerator
A linear accelerator is used in radiation oncology to accelerate electrons and photons for treating cancer.
Linear particle accelerator is used in particle physics experiments.
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The term Linear Accelerator comes from the fact that the electrones inside are being accelerated in a linear (straight) way, along the accelerator tube 1-1,5m long. This differs from electron acceleration being done in betatron accelerators, where electrons are accelerated in a circular way. There are two main advantages of Linear Accelerator (LINAC) over betatron accelerator: 1. is that the energy produced (electrons) in LINAC is much higher than the electron energies in betatron; 2. is that betatrons are very heavy machines compared to LINACs, they weight over 27 tons.
LINACs are used in medicine for treatment of: 1.malignant diseases (mainly)- such as cancers, sarcomas, brain tumors and 2.some skin diseases (very rare).