Removing a proton with a particle accelerator

[jgav9876]

What would it look like if I used a particle accelerator to remove a proton from a particular element? What would the physical change in the element look like if observed? Would the element appear to "magically" change into something else right before your very eyes, as if by some kind of spooky magic? (For example, if element 19 were gold colored and element 18 were silver colored, would the instantaneous shift in color be visibly apparent upon direct observation of element 19 having a proton removed by a particle accelerator?)

 

[jbriggs444]

What would it look like if I used a particle accelerator to remove a proton from a particular element? What would the physical change in the element look like if observed? Would the element appear to "magically" change into something else right before your very eyes, as if by some kind of spooky magic? (For example, if element 19 were gold colored and element 18 were silver colored, would the instantaneous shift in color be visibly apparent upon direct observation of element 19 having a proton removed by a particle accelerator?)

You realize that individual atoms are too small to see? I suppose that you are planning to trigger an inverse beta decay where Potassium-39 is transmuted to Argon-39 as a result of bombardment with an electron anti-neutrino.

My impression was that this reaction is normally used for neutrino detection, not for the creation of argon in particle accelerators.

Edit: A little more Googling reveals that the detector reaction is actually the other way around with an electron neutrino striking a liquid argon detector resulting in the creation of potassium.

 

[jgav9876]

It's been a while since I had chemistry. I forgot to mention that all of the atoms would have a proton removed, if such a thing were possible. If all of the protons were removed from all of the atoms simultaneously, would I observe a sudden shift in the physical appearance of the matter I'm observing as I described in my original post?

 

[jbriggs444]

It's been a while since I had chemistry. I forgot to mention that all of the atoms would have a proton removed, if such a thing were possible. If all of the protons were removed from all of the atoms simultaneously, would I observe a sudden shift in the physical appearance of the matter I'm observing as I described in my original post?

This is getting pretty unrealistic. If you are going to bombard a sample with enough anti-neutrinos to transmute a significant fleck of potassium, I would expect a radioactive mushroom cloud that hides the argon from view pretty effectively.

But I am not a nuclear physicist.

 

[jgav9876]

I wasn't saying it's practical - I should have clarified in my original post that I'm only asking this as a hypothetical situation in order to gain a better understanding of how matter works in general. So the fleck wouldn't stay a fleck? Hmm, interesting, okay. Thanks for your reply!

 

[jbriggs444]

I wasn't saying it's practical - I should have clarified in my original post that I'm only asking this as a hypothetical situation in order to gain a better understanding of how matter works in general. So the fleck wouldn't stay a fleck? Hmm, interesting, okay. Thanks for your reply!

Well, looking at the atomic mass for Potassium 39 compared to Argon 39, you are talking about an endothermic reaction requiring 0.0006 AMU per interaction. So if you have 39 grams (one mole) of Potassium 39, you'll need 0.0006 grams of mass equivalent as input energy.

You can Google it up. The potassium-39 is at 38.9637 AMU while argon-39 is 38.9643 AMU.

Let's use $E=mc^2$ to convert that to Joules -- $6 \times 10^{-7} \text{kg} \times c^2$ = 540 gigajoules. Only about 1/3 of a Hiroshima in input energy.

In fairness, 39 grams is rather more than "a fleck".

Edit: My energy budget may be off by a factor of two. The emitted positron counts for at least 0.00055 AMU. You are going to have a pretty good flux of 1.28 MeV gammas coming off as the positrons annihilate with electrons in the negative argon ions. So you may get that mushroom cloud after all.

 

[jgav9876]

Wow. So the yield would be 39 grams of argon and an atomic explosion? Fascinating. Thank you.

 

[jbriggs444]

Wow. So the yield would be 39 grams of argon and an atomic explosion? Fascinating. Thank you.

Endothermic. So you have to provide an explosion's worth of energy.

 

[jgav9876]

Right! Yes, thank you. Sorry about that. The fascinating part to me is that the 39 grams of potassium would change into 39 grams of argon right before your very eyes.

 

[PeroK]

It's been a while since I had chemistry. I forgot to mention that all of the atoms would have a proton removed, if such a thing were possible. If all of the protons were removed from all of the atoms simultaneously, would I observe a sudden shift in the physical appearance of the matter I'm observing as I described in my original post?

Here's a related question: if you magically turn an apple into an orange, does it look like an orange, or does it still look like an apple?

 

[jgav9876]

Here's a related question: if you magically turn an apple into an orange, does it look like an orange, or does it still look like an apple?

This is exactly the scenario I was imagining.