4 ms·

I don't think so — Nitrogen, the most common part of air, is stable in its most common isotope

lkmill 1y ago
indeed it seems so, i thought all atoms (except hydrogen) had some kind of decay. i thought so called stable atoms still had half-lives of 10^{very large number} years.
- tgv 1y ago
  In this scenario, you can think of a reaction as terminating a molecule's life. So if there's a 50% chance that an H2O (or CO2) molecule reacts in a certain period, that could be its half-life time.
- SJC_Hacker 1y ago
  If you buy into the Big Rip, then all particles in the universe (including protons and neutrons) will eventually disintegrate
  - jasongill 1y ago
    your post made me laugh because it makes the theory sound like propaganda that is sponsored by Big Rip
    - kjs3 1y ago
      Big Bang, Big Rip, Big Crush. Cosmologists like Big Things.
      - simonh 1y ago
        It’s literally the study of big things.
  - Baeocystin 1y ago
    Stephen Baxter wrote a short story about such. It sticks with you. https://web.archive.org/web/20080725045740/http://www.solarisbooks.com/books/newbookscifi/last-contact.asp https://web.archive.org/web/20080725045740/http://www.solari...
- cyberax 1y ago
  If we're talking about these kinds of scales, N2 molecules are not stable because there's a non-zero probability for the atoms to fuse into a heavier element through tunneling. And this will release more than enough energy to break the chemical bonds, of course.
- hnuser123456 1y ago
  Maybe you saw this story recently?: https://phys.org/news/2025-05-universe-decay-years-sooner-previously.html https://phys.org/news/2025-05-universe-decay-years-sooner-pr... Also, bismuth was once thought to be the most massive "fully" stable element, but turns out does decay with a half life of 10^19 years, compared to the universe's age of ~10^10 years. Neutrons decay into a proton/electron pair after 15 minutes when not part of a nucleus. Protons appear to be fully stable for any practical considerations, however they might decay after 10^30 years.
scheme271 1y ago
That's true for most timescales, however plants and other organisms fix nitrogen in the atmosphere into biologically useful molecules so nitrogen gets cycled in and out of the atmosphere. Similar things apply for carbon dioxide and oxygen.

indeed it seems so, i thought all atoms (except hydrogen) had some kind of decay. i thought so called stable atoms still had half-lives of 10^{very large number} years.

tgv 1y ago
In this scenario, you can think of a reaction as terminating a molecule's life. So if there's a 50% chance that an H2O (or CO2) molecule reacts in a certain period, that could be its half-life time.
SJC_Hacker 1y ago
If you buy into the Big Rip, then all particles in the universe (including protons and neutrons) will eventually disintegrate
- jasongill 1y ago
  your post made me laugh because it makes the theory sound like propaganda that is sponsored by Big Rip
  - kjs3 1y ago
    Big Bang, Big Rip, Big Crush. Cosmologists like Big Things.
    - simonh 1y ago
      It’s literally the study of big things.
- Baeocystin 1y ago
  Stephen Baxter wrote a short story about such. It sticks with you. https://web.archive.org/web/20080725045740/http://www.solarisbooks.com/books/newbookscifi/last-contact.asp https://web.archive.org/web/20080725045740/http://www.solari...
cyberax 1y ago
If we're talking about these kinds of scales, N2 molecules are not stable because there's a non-zero probability for the atoms to fuse into a heavier element through tunneling. And this will release more than enough energy to break the chemical bonds, of course.
hnuser123456 1y ago
Maybe you saw this story recently?: https://phys.org/news/2025-05-universe-decay-years-sooner-previously.html https://phys.org/news/2025-05-universe-decay-years-sooner-pr... Also, bismuth was once thought to be the most massive "fully" stable element, but turns out does decay with a half life of 10^19 years, compared to the universe's age of ~10^10 years. Neutrons decay into a proton/electron pair after 15 minutes when not part of a nucleus. Protons appear to be fully stable for any practical considerations, however they might decay after 10^30 years.

scheme271 1y ago

That's true for most timescales, however plants and other organisms fix nitrogen in the atmosphere into biologically useful molecules so nitrogen gets cycled in and out of the atmosphere. Similar things apply for carbon dioxide and oxygen.