How do particle colliders work?

Particle accelerators, also known as particle colliders or atom smashers, have been responsible for some of the most exciting physics findings over the past century, including the discovery of the elusive Higgs boson, the fundamental force-carrying particle of the Higgs field, which gives other particles their mass.

But how do particle colliders work?

As the name suggests, particle accelerators involve accelerating subatomic particles to incredibly high speeds and smashing them into tiny targets, usually atomic nuclei, to achieve a desired effect.

To get an idea of the scales at which particle accelerators work, consider one of the basic units used in their applications: the "barn." It's equal to a square just 10 femtometers — 10 quadrillionths of a meter — on each side. And yes, the te