4 ms·

Power is Amps x Volts, so I'm guessing the voltages involved are epicly huge. (Even though this paragraph is really talking about the acceleration)

• jacquesm 8y ago
  Magnetic fields are all about current and rate of change, the voltage isn't nearly as important a factor as long as it generates the required current. So the biggest element in all this is the internal resistance of the supply, hence the use of capacitors to dump all that energy in one go into a very low impedance coil. I mostly missed the microsecond/million factor, that's 10^12 we're talking about.
  • danielvf 8y ago
    Do you know voltage MRI machines work at?
    • jacquesm 8y ago
      MRI machines are expected to continue to work after they are used once :) The idea here is that the field strength is such that if you don't reach it quickly that the machine will self-destruct before you have reached your target field strength. So you have to cheat, taking for granted that the machine will not survive the experiment, hence the ridiculously high rate of current change. Note the the destruction is totally part of the plan and is a major factor in focusing the field even more. Anyway, the typical MRI power supply is pretty beefy, a few KV and 100's of Amps. And that in a way says it all about how impressive those machines are, they get up to serious field strengths without breaking up.