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  • $\begingroup$ I was referring to the case of LHC. So in your example of a proton with an energy of 3.5 TeV, what speed should the proton have? $\endgroup$ Commented Nov 3, 2010 at 17:11
  • $\begingroup$ The reasoning to have the speed of the protons at such high energy is similar to that case: physics.stackexchange.com/questions/139/speed-of-neutrinos/… . Basically: E/E0 = gamma =~ 3500 and gamma = 1 / sqrt(1- (v/c)^2) , you can then extract v (should be 0.some9s * c ). $\endgroup$ Commented Nov 3, 2010 at 17:18
  • $\begingroup$ OK, so if you use another particle, let's say with a rest mass twice as that of the proton, you achieve a bigger energy right? $\endgroup$ Commented Nov 3, 2010 at 17:49
  • $\begingroup$ No, because you won't be able to accelerate it to higher energy, because this other particle is heavier and then if you accelerate it with say the LHC, you would need a higher magnetic field, which you don't have. $\endgroup$ Commented Nov 3, 2010 at 17:51
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    $\begingroup$ Partly the answer is that the energies we're talking about are mostly kinetic (much bigger than the mass), so the mass is relatively unimportant. Another part of the answer is that a nucleus is a big object consisting of many protons and neutrons loosely held together. When you collide nuclei, the mass of the protons and neutrons never gets entirely funneled into the creation of one heavy object (like a Higgs boson), because they're all moving quasi-independently. Even when protons are collided, heavy objects like a Higgs are made from only two gluons, or two quarks, not the whole proton. $\endgroup$ Commented Nov 4, 2010 at 23:04