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Atomic Restructuring

 The Devil Made me Do It...
 
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I awoke with a mad obsession after reading about fusion involving hydrogen atoms (yep, read it in my sleep!) and how they form together afteward to form helium (does the fusion reaction thereafter continue with a squeeky sound?).

Can we use any other means, not involving fusion (I seem to recall something about someone moving particles with lasers, for instance), to dismantle an atom safely and then reconstruct it into some other kind of atom (I have another obsession which is to turn titanium into sulphur - lots and lots of titanium into lots and lots of sulphur! I don't know why)?

Hydrogen is freely available, there's more hydrogen in space than there is anything else...except maybe more than there is space itself...and maybe Human ego...but it just means there's an abundant source of nuclei, protons and electrons to work with.

—arclyte, Apr 06 2003

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       Ehh, hard to tell. One thing's for sure: smashin' two atoms together is fusion, no matter how ya look at it, and splitting an atom is fission. Dunno if this is possible er not...probably not with today's junk.
—galukalock, Apr 06 2003
   

       I have a Philosopher's Stone I can sell you...
—phoenix, Apr 06 2003
   

       Try sledgehammering an anvil - you're bound to split an atom sometime.
—thumbwax, Apr 06 2003
   

       Yeah, 'cause the atoms in the sledgehammer and anvil are only held to each other by the weak force, whereas an atom's components are held together by the strong force. Wonder why they're called by those particular (no pun intended) names...
—galukalock, Apr 07 2003
   

       Just grab a handful of molecules and put them on an anvil and you're all set to smash away. Tip: remove hand/fingers from anvil/path of sledgehammer first.
—thumbwax, Apr 07 2003
   

       [arclyte] you deserve a fishbone only for lack of imagination.
If you're going to go to the trouble of devising a way to convert atoms of one element to another, why titanium into sulfur?
The good old standby is lead into gold, that would at least make you rich.
How about something really useful: convert calcium (the primary component of fishbones) into crescentium, or whatever it is you make croissants from.
—roby, Apr 07 2003
   

       [roby, Apr 07 2003]   

       How about a cressant for thinking ahead? It may be quirky logic, but still logic, that if we could make gold in this fashion then everyone would be doing it and gold would get devalued.   

       On the other hand, no one would be making sulfur for any obvious reason, so it would be worth more.
—arclyte, Apr 09 2003
   

       That creates a new universe – I thought everyone knew that.   

       BTW, it’s possible to make gold (different fashion), but I’ve never solved the radioactivity problem.
—Shz, Apr 09 2003
   

       markium, foranium, deletininium.
—po, Apr 09 2003
   

       This is baked. If you shoot alpha particles at an atom and convince 'em to stick, it transmutes. Protons can do the same. It's not even hard. A decent radioactive source can do it, and a particle accelerator can do this in its sleep.
—Madcat, Apr 10 2003
   

       This is baked. If you shoot alpha particles at an atom and convince 'em to stick, it transmutes. Protons can do the same. It's not even hard. A decent radioactive source can do it, and a particle accelerator can do this in its sleep. Croissant for the thought though- this could've won you the Nobel - if you lived 100 years ago. Keep thinking.
—Madcat, Apr 10 2003
   

       //no one would be making sulfur for any obvious reason, so it would be worth more.//
Get your genuine 14 carrot sulfur necklaces right here!
—roby, Apr 10 2003
   

       Actually very baked. Most of us (not in antarctica this time of year) have a substantial fusion reactor which uses hydrogen, available several hours a day. It's warming me right now.
—RusNash, Jun 21 2003
   


 

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