Final answer:
The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is the world's largest particle accelerator, crossing the border between Switzerland and France, and is located near Geneva, Switzerland. It began operation in 2008 and is designed to answer fundamental questions about our universe by studying particle collisions at high energies.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is the world's largest and most powerful particle accelerator, and it indeed spans across two countries. The accelerator ring of the LHC crosses the border between Switzerland and France.
This immense machine is located underground near Geneva, Switzerland, and it allows scientists to study fundamental particles by accelerating them to near-light speeds and subsequently observing the particles created from collisions between proton beams.
The LHC began its preliminary operation in 2008 with the aim of answering profound questions about the nature of our universe, such as the origin of mass and the state of matter a few seconds after the Big Bang.
Operated by the European Organization for Nuclear Research, better known as CERN, the LHC achieves beam energies of 3.5 TeV, resulting in collision energies of up to 7 TeV. It is anticipated that further advancements and upgradations will enable the collider to achieve even higher energies.