The LHC in numbers


Feature Number Equivalent
Circumference ~ 27 km  
Distance covered by beam in 10 hours ~ 10 billion km a round trip to Neptune
Number of times a single proton travels around the ring each second 11 245  
Speed of protons first entering the LHC 299 732 500 m/s 99.9998 % of the speed of light
Speed of protons when they collide 299 789 760 m/s 99.9999991 % of the speed of light
Collision temperature ~ 1016 °C over one billion times hotter than the centre of the Sun
Operating temperature of the superconducting magnets 1,9 K (-271,3°C) colder than outer
space (which is 2.7 K, or 270.5˚C)
Amount of helium needed to cool down the facility ~ 120 t  
Number of leak-tight pipe junctions necessary to keep the helium cold ~ 40 000  
Volume of the insulating vacuum around the superconducting magnets ~ 9 000 m3 the volume of the nave of a cathedral
Pressure inside the beam vacuum pipe ~ 10-13 atm one tenth of the pressure at the surface of the moon
Electrical power consumption ~ 120 MW twice the power generated by the Rolls Royce 900 engine of an Airbus A380 when the plane is at cruising speed

by Alizée Dauvergne