Using Muons as a Disguise, Chemists Fool Helium Into Thinking It's Hydrogen
The quantum trick helps illustrate how atomic mass can affect chemical reactions Chemists have messed with the constituent parts of a helium atom and fooled it into behaving like it was hydrogen. This form of alchemy allows a physical test of how atomic mass affects chemical reaction rates. The trickery involves a particle accelerator, a heavy subatomic particle and some knowledge of quantum mechanics. Donald Fleming of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver and his colleagues took muons produced at Canada's TRIUMF particle accelerator, and smashed them into a cloud of helium, molecular hydrogen (two hydrogen atoms) and ammonia. Positive muons resulted in muonium, a light version of hydrogen. Negative muons resulted in a heavy version of hydrogen, which has the nucleus of helium but behaves chemically like hydrogen. The latter effect has to do with fooling the electrons. Related ArticlesCERN Researchers Trap Antimatter Hydrogen Atoms For the First TimeIn Quantum...