Final answer:
The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is used to accelerate and collide protons, enabling physicists to explore the properties of subatomic particles and make significant discoveries like the Higgs boson.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN is the world's largest and most powerful particle accelerator, and it is primarily used to accelerate and collide protons. This intricate machine is situated on the border of Switzerland and France and consists of a 27 kilometers (17 miles) long superconducting tunnel where particles are propelled to near-light speeds. The LHC has been of significant importance in advancing our understanding of fundamental particles, leading to groundbreaking discoveries like the Higgs boson, which is integral to explaining the origin of mass in fundamental particles.
Accelerators like the LHC use strong electromagnetic fields to accelerate charged particles to very high energies. These particles are then made to collide with each other at speeds close to the speed of light. By analyzing the collisions, particle physicists can study the properties of subatomic particles and explore theoretical predictions, such as the possible existence of the graviton, and other aspects of particle physics and cosmology.