3 ms·
When groups of atoms are cooled to such unfathomably low temperatures, they stop moving as individuals and meld into one big "super atom." Tens of thousands of
by miduil 8y ago
When groups of atoms are cooled to such unfathomably low temperatures, they stop moving as individuals and meld into one big "super atom." Tens of thousands of atoms suddenly become indistinguishable from one another, slowly vibrating on a uniform wavelength that can, theoretically, pick up the tiniest gravitational disturbances around them.
Why should this be called "super atom", just because all atoms behave the same? If I have a bag of indistinguishable rice corns, they don't suddenly become a single "super rice corn".
- Retric 8y agoAtom means indivisible. Calling it a super molecule might seem like a better term, but it's not about the chemical nature of the substance.
- ars 8y ago> If I have a bag of indistinguishable rice corns Ah, but they actually are distinguishable. If you checked them, their size will vary slightly, the exact position of the atoms making them up with be different, etc, etc. If you tried, you would be able to find something different about every single grain of rice - even if you had to check at the atomic level. The thing about this condensate is the atoms ARE truly indistinguishable. Their motion, energy, absolutely everything about this is exactly identical. But what really makes them special is that they stay that way - they all move together. (At least until they get enough energy to break apart their bond.) It's that last part that makes them into this "super atom" - they are all bonded together.