this post was submitted on 28 Sep 2023
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Science Memes

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[–] Fleur__@lemmy.world 139 points 2 years ago (4 children)

This doesn't work because it will also make hydrogen gas that will take up the air in the area you are in causing you to suffocate. I lost a very close friend to this please don't spread misinformation online.

[–] chetradley@lemm.ee 30 points 2 years ago (1 children)

That's why I just buy Gadolinium and slice each atom in half!

[–] threelonmusketeers@sh.itjust.works 5 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

Huh? Wouldn't that just give you two radioactive isotopes of germanium? (^(154)Gd/2 = ^(77)Ge > ^(76)Ge)

[–] someguy7734206@sh.itjust.works 20 points 2 years ago

With the right equipment, you can capture the hydrogen and use it to power your hydrogen fuel cell car. So not only do you get free gold, you get free fuel for your car as well.

[–] Player2@sopuli.xyz 14 points 2 years ago

You just have to go slowly and next to the window

[–] Zehzin@lemmy.world 77 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (2 children)

I think you'll lose like 5 grams from the protons, more cause you might have to remove a couple of neutrons?

[–] Sethayy@sh.itjust.works 10 points 2 years ago (1 children)

More like put em all together and get even more gold

[–] pennomi@lemmy.world 15 points 2 years ago (3 children)

Anybody have advice for shoving a bunch of protons together? I keep trying but they always fly away from each other.

[–] ICastFist@programming.dev 12 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Put some sugar on a magnet, that always works

[–] TheYear2525@lemmy.world 13 points 2 years ago

Just a spoon full of strong force helps the proton stay down

[–] Sethayy@sh.itjust.works 11 points 2 years ago

Yeah just turn up the close nuclear forces a bit and they'll zoom right together

[–] marcos@lemmy.world 5 points 2 years ago

You have to hold them close for a little bit, and let those positrons vent away.

[–] roguetrick@kbin.social 0 points 2 years ago (1 children)

That's the fun part. If you take just one proton off, you'll often end up with some gold that just decays back into mercury in a few days. Sell it for a quick prank.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isotopes_of_gold

[–] BossDj@lemm.ee 1 points 2 years ago

I'm a third generation proton plucker myself. Some day, my children's children's children may have a good laugh when they finish this bar.

[–] doublejay1999@lemmy.world 49 points 2 years ago

And all those alchemists were starting with lead. What idiots.

[–] Malgas@beehaw.org 23 points 2 years ago (1 children)

0.995 kg of gold and 5g of protium

Actually less than that because only around 10% of the gold created this way (assuming a natural distribution of Hg isotopes) would be stable, so you'd get a bunch of β particles too. I don't even know how Au-201 would act, and it would comprise 30% of the output.

[–] roguetrick@kbin.social 1 points 2 years ago (1 children)

21 minute half life beta decay back to mercury.

[–] TheGreenGolem@lemm.ee 1 points 2 years ago

half life beta

Half Life 3 confirmed alright

[–] Krukenberg@feddit.ch 22 points 2 years ago (2 children)
[–] Rooty@lemmy.world 12 points 2 years ago

It's a welcome break from deep fried and cropped porn memes.

[–] DefyTheLegends@lemmy.world 6 points 2 years ago

Not only that, but also extreme troll physics vibes. Just lacking magnets and tge question how they work.

[–] Nonononoki@lemmy.world 15 points 2 years ago (1 children)

How many atoms does 1kg of mercury have?

[–] SmoothIsFast@lemmy.world 19 points 2 years ago (2 children)

30x10^23 atoms according to my calculations.

[–] nyoooom@lemmy.world 25 points 2 years ago

So basically if you handle 1M atoms per second, it would take 95B years to process 1kg...

It's really hard to grasp those scales

[–] threelonmusketeers@sh.itjust.works 4 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

3.0022×10^24 atoms, to be precise.

[–] MooseBoys@lemmy.world 12 points 2 years ago (1 children)

What a troll - everyone knows if you transform Hg202 into Au201, it will immediately decay back into Hg201 while releasing about 606MJ of energy in the process.

[–] nothacking@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 2 years ago

But, if you instead pull of a few neutrons to make Hg197, it will decay in a few days to stable Au197, along with a free neutrino.

[–] rmuk@feddit.uk 8 points 2 years ago

He converted lead into gold and Euros into dollars.

[–] darcy@sh.itjust.works 7 points 2 years ago (6 children)

wait how has noone thought of this?

[–] Aurenkin@sh.itjust.works 68 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

Yeah I think there were some folks who thought about splitting the atom right? I forget who.

Anyway, now I am become wealth, buyer of worlds.

[–] octoperson@sh.itjust.works 13 points 2 years ago

Step two is fiddly

[–] Venutianxspring@lemmy.dbzer0.com 9 points 2 years ago (2 children)

This was the idea by alchemy. They thought you could change one element into another. Lead to gold and so forth, but not so easy in medieval Europe

[–] Zehzin@lemmy.world 31 points 2 years ago

Yeah they didn't have tweezers back then

[–] darcy@sh.itjust.works 5 points 2 years ago (1 children)

you can make gold from platinum! however this is a net loss as platinum costs more

[–] pennomi@lemmy.world 10 points 2 years ago

You can make gold from hydrogen too! Just gotta put enough of it into one place so it forms a large star, then wait for it to go supernova.

[–] eating3645@lemmy.world 4 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Step 2 is expensive :( tweezers ain't cheap!

[–] homesweethomeMrL@lemmy.world 3 points 2 years ago (1 children)
[–] swab148@startrek.website 2 points 2 years ago

Where am I gonna get a pygmy pony at this hour?

[–] Pregnenolone@lemmy.world 4 points 2 years ago

Yeah but it would cost more and take an exorbitant amount of time (like billions of years) to produce anything of value, let alone profit.

[–] Fleur__@lemmy.world 3 points 2 years ago (1 children)

They have they all died tho cos it makes hydrogen gas and the die and suffocate please like to spread awareness

[–] darcy@sh.itjust.works 2 points 2 years ago

just hold your breath ???

[–] zepheriths@lemmy.world 5 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

Has that ever worked with mercury? I know I lt worked in a very small number of atoms (about 200) for lead and gold

[–] brisvag@feddit.nl 4 points 2 years ago

I love that the face is actually mirrored. 10/10

Dollar dollar bill y'all, get the money

[–] nothacking@discuss.tchncs.de 3 points 2 years ago

Fake. The resulting Au201 and Au199 will promptly turn back into mercury. But, if you instead pull of a few neutrons to make Hg197, it will decay in a few days to stable Au197, along with a free neutrino.

[–] suenoromis@lemmy.world 2 points 2 years ago

Cash rules everything around me CREAM! Get the money! Dollar dollar bill yooooo

Hold up how much do all the protons you removed weigh? You get less than 1kg of gold at the end