Question

A cyclotron cannot accelerate:
A.Protons
B.Deuterons
C.Neutrons
D.Electrons

Answer 1

Hint: An apparatus used to accelerate atomic and subatomic particles by an alternating electric field in a constant magnetic field. But the cyclotron accelerates only charged particles. Particles which are electrically neutral or particles having no charge cannot be accelerated by the cyclotron.

Complete step by step answer:
Protons: Subatomic particles located in the nucleus of an atom are known as protons. Protons are positively charged.
The cyclotron accelerates charged particles. Thus, protons are accelerated by cyclotrons.
Deuterons: Isotopes of hydrogen which contains one proton and one neutron in its nucleus are known as deuterons. Deuterons contain one proton which is a positively charged particle. Thus, deuterons are positively charged.
The cyclotron accelerates charged particles. Thus, deuterons are accelerated by cyclotrons.
Neutrons: Subatomic particles located in the nucleus of an atom having mass equal to that of proton are known as neutrons. Neutrons that are not charged are electrically neutral.
The cyclotron accelerates charged particles. Thus, neutrons are not accelerated by cyclotrons.
Electrons: Subatomic particles that revolve around the nucleus of an atom in orbits are known as electrons. Electrons are negatively charged.
The cyclotron accelerates charged particles. Thus, electrons are accelerated by cyclotrons.
Thus, a cyclotron cannot accelerate neutrons as they are not charged.

So, the correct answer is Option C .

Note:
The cyclotron uses an alternating electric field of high frequency to accelerate the charged particles. These accelerated charged particles are highly energetic. The energy of the accelerated particles is given by the equation,
$E = \dfrac{{{q^2}{B^2}{R^2}}}{{2m}}$
Where, $E$ is the energy of the accelerated particle,
$q$ is the charge on the particle,
$B$ is the strength of the magnetic field,
$R$ is the radius of the D-shaped hollow metal electrodes used in the cyclotron apparatus,
$m$ is the mass of the particle.