where E is the energy of the particle, q its electric charge, B is the magnetic field in the source and R the size of the source. This criterion comes from the fact that for a particle to be accelerated to a given energy, its Larmor radius must be less than the size of the accelerating region. Once the Larmor radius of the particle is greater than the size of the accelerating region, it escapes and does not gain any more energy. As a consequence of this, heavier nuclei (with a greater number of protons), if present, can be accelerated to higher energies than protons within the same source.