Portuguese 
English 
Spanish 
4 min of reading 
0 comments 
Transforming Lead Into Gold Stopped Being Fantasy: Scientists Managed to Observe the Real Phenomenon at the LHC, Revealing Secrets of Nuclear Physics at Ultra-High Energy
For centuries, transforming lead into gold was an impossible dream. Now, at the world’s largest physics laboratory, it became a reality — even if for a moment. A group of physicists managed to observe this phenomenon at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), located on the border between France and Switzerland. For the first time, it was possible to directly measure the formation of gold atoms in the laboratory.
Lead, Light, and Collisions at Almost 100% the Speed of Light
The experiment involved lead ions accelerated to more than 99.999993% of the speed of light. These ions collided in the underground ring of the LHC, which is 27 kilometers long.
Some collisions were head-on, creating tiny fireballs. Others occurred in a more subtle way, without direct contact, but with intense energy exchange. These are called ultraperipheral collisions.
-
Will it be available in Brazil? The foldable prefabricated house “from Tesla” that became famous with Elon Musk and comes ready from the factory – will it be delivered here?
-
Innovative cell therapy keeps patients free of HIV for years after a single infusion of lab-modified cells.
-
While Brazil has left the Transnordestina Railway stalled for 16 years, China is boring 89 meters under the Yangtze River with the world’s largest diameter railway tunnel boring machine to open 14 km of high-speed line.
-
Paul Sereno and his team from the University of Chicago describe in the Sahara the first new Spinosaurus in 110 years with a saber-shaped bony crest: Spinosaurus mirabilis, nicknamed Hell-heron
During these indirect collisions, the electromagnetic fields became so strong that they emitted short bursts of photons, the particles of light.
These photons had enough energy to strip protons and neutrons from the atomic nuclei of lead. The result: the original nucleus transformed into another chemical element.
Transforming Lead Into Gold
Lead has 82 protons. When it loses three, it becomes gold, which has 79. The name of this process is electromagnetic dissociation. By changing the number of protons, the chemical element changes. This is not a magic trick. It is nuclear physics.
This transmutation lasted only a fraction of a second, but it was enough to be recorded. The scientists directly observed the formation of gold atoms — something that had never been measured accurately until then.
Amount of Gold Generated Was Surprising, But Impossible to Harness
During the so-called Run 2 of the LHC, between 2015 and 2018, the collisions generated about 89,000 gold atoms per second. That represents a new atom every 11 microseconds. In the next phase, called Run 3, production doubled: approximately 178,000 atoms per second.
Even so, this amount is insignificant. A single gram of gold contains more than 3,000 billion billion atoms. And the atoms created at the LHC disappeared almost immediately, destroyed by the ultra-high energy environment of the experiment.
Moreover, the cost of generating these atoms far exceeds the market price of gold. In other words, no one will open a jewelry store with what was produced there.
The Value Is in Knowledge, Not Metal
The importance of the experiment lies in understanding the physical processes that occur in particle collisions. Understanding how nuclei lose protons helps engineers improve beam control in the accelerator, avoiding failures and optimizing new tests.
In addition to gold, other elements were also formed. When lead lost only one proton, it became thallium (with 81 protons). Losing two turned it into mercury (with 80). These elements appeared in even larger quantities.
How Was It Possible to Detect the Gold Atoms
The detection of the new atoms was carried out by the ALICE experiment (A Large Ion Collider Experiment), specialized in studying subatomic particles generated in collisions. It uses detectors called Zero Degree Calorimeters (ZDCs), installed far from the central point of the impacts.
These sensors record rare events, in which one, two, or three protons are ejected from a lead nucleus. Thus, it is possible to identify the formation of thallium, mercury, and gold, respectively.
The great achievement of the study was not just the creation of gold, but the detailed measurement of this process. The team managed to capture signals of extremely rare transformations amidst trillions of collisions with particles flying in all directions.
Alchemy Turned Into Science
In the past, it was believed that the Philosopher’s Stone could transform common metals into gold. Today, this transformation is done at the planet’s most modern laboratory — not out of ambition, but out of scientific curiosity.
Alchemists sought answers in formulas and mixtures. Today’s physicists use data, particles, and extreme energy. The result is the same old dream, achieved with the tools of modern science.
These gold atoms created at the LHC may never serve as currency. But what they offer is a deeper understanding of the forces that hold matter together. Alchemy has not died — it has merely transformed.
With information from ZME Science.
Be the first to react!