| Topic: |
Science > Physics |
| User: |
"Dave Reckoning" |
| Date: |
24 Mar 2005 09:27:59 PM |
| Object: |
How old are atoms? |
I know they can be smashed and crushed by humans and that some of them
degrade from unstable to more stable isotopes and that the sun turns H into
He but...
How long do atoms generally live?
Are some of the ones around now orignals created at the beginning or have
they all been transformed by stars or some other routine process?
Is the same true of those mirky strings?
Again, I find that my knowledge of this subject is not enogh to reach the
answer on Google.
Dave Reckoning
Noblesville, IN
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| User: "mountain man" |
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| Title: Re: How old are atoms? |
24 Mar 2005 10:43:23 PM |
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"Dave Reckoning" <Dave_Reckoning@notmail.com> wrote in message
news:3zL0e.103714$Ze3.45191@attbi_s51...
How long do atoms generally live?
Depends upon their environment I'd imagine.
Some environments are hostile to even atoms.
Pete Brown
Falls Creek
Oz
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| User: "Sbharris[atsign]ix.netcom.com" |
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| Title: Re: How old are atoms? |
24 Mar 2005 10:48:22 PM |
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I know they can be smashed and crushed by humans and that some of
them
degrade from unstable to more stable isotopes and that the sun turns H
into
He but...
How long do atoms generally live?
Are some of the ones around now orignals created at the beginning or
have
they all been transformed by stars or some other routine process? <<
COMMENT:
I think you're trying to ask how old atoms are. That depends on the
atom. Nearly all atoms of deuterium are 13.5 billion years old, having
been made in the big bang and been around since then. Makes you admire
that bottle of heavy water. Probably a lot of light hydrogen atoms are
that old also, but it's hard to tell which ones.
Most of the heavier atoms are thought to have been formed in supernovas
which blew up in our region of space 5 to 10 billion years ago, and
scattered the dust cloud from which our solar system formed. So they're
round about that age. All older than 4.6 billion years (the age of our
solar system) but not as old as the big bang. From the patters of
elements, there were apparently at the very least, dozens of such stars
which contributed to our solar dust cloud. So the mix of ages of stable
atoms is quite wide. All we can say is that they're probably all
younger than our galaxy, but older than our solar system.
Some stable atoms are younger than our solar system and the earth
(which are about the same age-- 4.6 billion years). Probably most
helium from the ground is made of retired alpha particles from U and
Th, so it's younger than the Earth. Still millions to billions of years
old, though.
Most radioactive elements are also younger than the Earth, and are
products of decays have have happened since the Earth formed. Important
exceptions are uranium and thorium, which are extremely long-lived, and
date back to the supernovas previous referenced.
SBH
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| User: "robert j. kolker" |
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| Title: Re: How old are atoms? |
24 Mar 2005 10:53:32 PM |
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Dave Reckoning wrote:
How long do atoms generally live?
As long as the universe. Hydrogen and Hellium atoms are stable. The only
ones to have perished are those that were fused into heavier elements in
supernovas.
Chemical combination does not destroy atoms so all the atoms that
participate in chemical reactions have been around a long time. The
heavier ones were created when first generation stars collapsed.
Bob Kolker
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| User: "Uncle Al" |
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| Title: Re: How old are atoms? |
25 Mar 2005 03:54:27 PM |
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Dave Reckoning wrote:
I know they can be smashed and crushed by humans and that some of them
degrade from unstable to more stable isotopes and that the sun turns H into
He but...
How long do atoms generally live?
Stable atoms persist well beyond the the age of the universe. It can
get dicy if they get caught near the core of a large old star.
Are some of the ones around now orignals created at the beginning or have
they all been transformed by stars or some other routine process?
Hydrogen, some helium, plus traces of lithium have been around since
the beginning.
Is the same true of those mirky strings?
Doesn't mean anything. M-theory is not predictive.
Again, I find that my knowledge of this subject is not enogh to reach the
answer on Google.
--
Uncle Al
http://www.mazepath.com/uncleal/
(Toxic URL! Unsafe for children and most mammals)
http://www.mazepath.com/uncleal/qz.pdf
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| User: "Sam Wormley" |
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| Title: Re: How old are atoms? |
24 Mar 2005 10:45:12 PM |
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Dave Reckoning wrote:
I know they can be smashed and crushed by humans and that some of them degrade from unstable to more stable isotopes
and that the sun turns H into He but...
How long do atoms generally live?
Hydrogen (and most of the Helium) atoms are 13.7 billion years old.
Heavier element forged in the cores of stars or supernovae from sometime
after the first stars formed at about 13.4 billion years ago up to the
present.
Are some of the ones around now orignals created at the beginning or have they all been transformed by stars or some
other routine process?
Is the same true of those mirky strings?
String theory is not currently testable and is just an idea.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/elegant/
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| User: "Sbharris[atsign]ix.netcom.com" |
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| Title: Re: How old are atoms? |
24 Mar 2005 10:49:47 PM |
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Most of the helium in the solar system, yes, but not most of the helium
*you've* seen.
..
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| User: "" |
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| Title: Re: How old are atoms? |
24 Mar 2005 10:55:07 PM |
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You know some GUT's predict that atoms
decay. I suggest we look for decay of the
heaviest non radio-active atoms first.
My intuition says they'll decay the fastest.
Mitch -- Light Falls --
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