million electron volts

noun

, Physics.

1. a unit of energy equal to the energy acquired by an electron in falling through a potential of 10 6 volts. : MeV, Mev, mev

Word History and Origins

Origin of million electron volts¹

First recorded in 1905–10

Example Sentences

Although that amount of energy is miniscule by everyday standards, the increase occurred as the electrons traveled only three one-hundredths of a millimeter—equivalent to them gaining about 30 million electron volts over the course of a meter.

From Scientific American

She estimates that 1,000 stages could fit on a chip a couple of centimeters in length and imbue electrons with a million electron volts’ worth of energy, allowing them to travel at about 94 percent of the speed of light.

From Scientific American

Radium emitted alpha particles at a meager 7.6 million electron volts and beta rays—that is, electrons—at only 3 million volts.

From Literature

There was no evidence that hydrogen ions had charged around Edlefsen’s “rather sketchy” apparatus at all, much less at any appreciable fraction of 1 million electron volts.

From Literature

Bethe had not been wrong about this obstacle, merely premature; but if the cyclotron were to move beyond 30 million electron volts, the issue had to be faced now.

From Literature