Scientists Create Gold from Lead, Albeit for a Second
Break10 Web Desk: In a scientific achievement that echoes the dreams of ancient alchemists, physicists at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) of Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire (CERN) successfully created gold from lead atoms, albeit fleetingly, by using high-energy collisions.
The experiment, conducted by a team of nuclear physicists and particle researchers, involved smashing lead nuclei together at nearly the speed of light. The immense energy released during these collisions, caused a reconfiguration of protons and neutrons, producing a few atoms of gold for an incredibly brief moment.
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“To produce gold (a nucleus with 79 protons), three protons must be removed from a lead nucleus in the LHC beams,” CERN said. However, the total amount was still trillions of times less than would be required to produce a piece of jewellery, it said, dampening any hopes of alchemists. “The gold only exists for a tiny fraction of a second.”
Scientists caution that the discovery doesn’t pave the way to commercial transmutation but provides invaluable data on nuclear reactions, potentially advancing fields like astrophysics, material science, and nuclear energy.
