I'm smarter than I thought.
Posted By matt on January 18, 2009
In my college chemistry 101, I spoke with the professor after class one day about a goofy theory I had.
“Isn't it possible to somehow spiral electrons into the nucleus of an atom and pair them with protons thus canceling out the charges and creating neutrons – helium to isotopes of hydrogen, or multiple hydrogens into helium, etc.”
She looked at me as if I were nuts, kind of shrugged, looked uninterested, and said “I guess anything is possible”.
Apparently, I should have talked with the nuclear physicists, because I had unknowingly just described how neutron stars are created. The massive gravity causes the electron shells to buckle, creating a superdense mass of neutrons. Of course, the theory goes on that if you have an even larger/more dense mass, you get a black hole.
Comments
Leave a Reply
Please note: Comment moderation is currently enabled so there will be a delay between when you post your comment and when it shows up. Patience is a virtue; there is no need to re-submit your comment.