Do Atoms Die or Get Old?

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SUMMARY

Atoms do not die or age; they remain intact even when materials like paper are destroyed or burned. When paper is burned, the chemical bonds between atoms are broken, resulting in the formation of new substances, but the individual atoms themselves remain unchanged. The only exception is radioactive atoms, which decay over time into different elements. Thus, while the arrangement of atoms may change, the atoms themselves persist in various forms within the environment.

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atomo
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I there,i am new of the forum,
i was wonder if atoms die or get old...
For example,if i drop a piece of paper on the ground in a bit of time it will be destroyed right?by the atmosphere and weather condition,but this mean that the atoms will no be there anymore?that mean that the strong bond between atoms as been tear apart?
I don't understand if everything is created by atoms what happen to them when thing have been destroyed? Also that same piece of paper,if i put it on fire it will become ash,so i just burnt the atoms?thanks guys in advance...
 
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welcome to pf!

welcome, mighty atomo! :biggrin:

no, the atoms in the paper will still be around somewhere …

washed away into the gutter, or eaten by earthworms and converted into soil, etc

and when you burn the paper, you may split the atoms apart from each other, to make new substances, but each individual atom will still be as good as it ever was

the only atoms that get old are the radioactive ones, that eventually decay to something else :wink:
 


Chemical processes, like burning, can tear and rearrange molecules but not atoms. When burn paper, you change the complicated organic molecules into its constituent atoms, Carbon, Oxygen, and Hydrogen, mostly, which then recombine into Carbon, Carbon Dioxide, some Carbon Monoxide, water, etc. The ash is mostly Carbon- Carbon Dioxide and Carbon Monoxide are gases that go into the air.
 


Thank you guys for the answer now i can sleep ihhihihihihi
 

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