do atoms "die"

[smiler grogan]

Today on my way home I was thinking about various things and it led to atoms. I then started thinking do atoms die or wear out if thats a better way of saying it.
I await your reply sire

[Death Metal Moe]

All Atoms go to Heaven


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[HordeKing1]

Only the living can die.

I take your question to mean "do atoms ever decay to the point of nonexistence."

The answer is a qualified yes - but it can take a really long time.

Perhaps you've heard of the term "half-life." It refers to the length of time it takes for 1/2 the number of atoms in radiocative material to decay. This is an effective way of telling how old an item is. You're probably familiar with the technique or term of "radiocarbon dating."

The half-life of Carbon-14, off the top of my head is about 5700 years. By looking at the remaining amount of Carbon in the object (and correcting for different environmental conditions). This is an effective tool for measuring items which are not that old.

However, some atoms have a MUCH longer half-life. Better yet, when some atoms decay, they change into another atom. A frequent technique used to measure really old objects (billions of years) is called Potassium Argon dating.

Potassium-40 decays Argon-40. Scientissts can compare the proportion of potasisium to argon in volcanic strata and determine the date of that strata. Objects above it are newer, objects below it are older.

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[ADF]

Do you mean stop moving? Not as far as I know.

Radioactive elements decay and move down the land o' Mendeleev, eventually becoming another element.. Uranium-238 becomes lead, if I remember right.

Do they stop moving? Well, the closer they get to absolute zero the less they move. The depths of outer space are 3 degrees above absolute zero.

Do they dissipate? You can get a look at the innards of an atom with a particle accelerator or if cosmic rays hit it.

I dunno if the law of entropy goes so far as to say that all atoms will eventually stop moving.

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[HordeKing1]

ADF - In the old "closed universe" theories, atoms never stoped moving. In the new accepted "open universe" atoms will eventually stop moving as all available energy is exhausted and absolute zero is universal.


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[smiler grogan]

Thanks mister king
your answer was what i was looking for.

[golfcourseguy]

My atomic clock might be a little slow ,can you tell me when we will reach entropy?

That might sound a bit flip, there are "dead stars" and when "our star runs out of juice" it's over. Is it possible to measure the miniscule changes over a couple of hundered years? My guess is "not yet".


" editing posts since day one"

This message was edited by golfcourseguy on 4-28-03 @ 9:49 PM

[ADF]

A uranium atom that has turned into a lead atom is still an atom, and not "dead." I'd consider an atom dead if its various parts are no longer kept together or moving. I wonder how long it would take for an atom of hydrogen in an non-reactive environment to succumb to entropy.

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[HordeKing1]

I think "The Atom" comic book is as dead as "Adam Ant's" career.

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[Death Metal Moe]

It's not in the Bible, so I don't believe it.

Plus, the universe is only about 5000 years old too.

Darwin Blows!!!!

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[East Side Dave]

Up and Atom!


-Radioactive Man

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[Johnathan H Christ]

Objects above it are newer, objects below it are older.
we in the geology/ pizza delivery business call that the law of uniformitarianism

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[Johnathan H Christ]

<IMG SRC=http://www.hawking.org.uk/about/images/stephenh6.jpg> not only does this guy look really funny, he writes books on this very subject! pretty damn smart for a retard huh? (oh god.... i'm goin to hell now)

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This message was edited by DrtyLuv on 4-30-03 @ 12:26 AM

[Death Metal Moe]

do atoms "die"


Didn't anyone ever tell you the story of Atom and Eve?

AAAAAAA GE GE GE!!!!!!!!!!

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