3 ms·
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
by 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 agoIn 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 agoIf you buy into the Big Rip, then all particles in the universe (including protons and neutrons) will eventually disintegrate
- jasongill 1y agoyour post made me laugh because it makes the theory sound like propaganda that is sponsored by Big Rip
- Baeocystin 1y agoStephen 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 agoIf 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 agoMaybe 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.