How Pressure Alone Can Change Matter?

--------- #1402 - How Pressure Alone Can Change Matter?

- Attachments : National Ignition Facility

- We are more familiar with temperature changing the states of matter. Water vapor, into liquid, into solid ice. But, pressure also changes the states of matter. Water vapor can turn into a liquid if pressure is increased and temperature is held constant. Hydrogen gas can change into a “metal” under the extreme gravitational pressures found at the core of the planet Jupiter.

- The center of the Earth experiences 1,000,000 times greater pressure than the surface. The rocks at the center are feeling 10^6 more pressure. How have they changed? At the center of a Neutron Star the pressure could be 10^27 times greater. Under this much pressure atoms themselves collapse. The core of a Neutron Star is one giant atomic nucleus of neutrons and protons. The electrons are crushed out of their shells and into the nucleus.

- Science has tried to duplicate some of these immense pressures in the laboratory. They have taken hydrogen gas, a single proton with a single electron and put it under immense pressure. It changes into a dense fluid. The electrons flow in this fluid like you would expect to occur in a metal conducting electricity. H2 becomes a metal. The pressure needed to obtain this state is 2,600,000 atmospheres.

- This immense pressure was created in a device called a “ diamond anvil cell.” Science is experimenting trying to learn what happens to matter under high pressure. When hydrogen is mixed with silicon it becomes a superconductor under pressures of 960,000 atmospheres. If they mix hydrogen with platinum it becomes a superconductor at 700,000 atmospheres.

- Iron is the 4^th most abundant element in Earth’s crust. Under high pressure it can form an entirely new molecule, Fe4O5. The pressure is 100,000 atmospheres and the temperature is 1,500 C when this new compound forms.

- The device that is really going to break the pressure barrier is the National Ignition Facility at Lawrence Livermore Labs in Berkeley. This giant machine the size of a football field uses 192 powerful lasers focused on a tiny pellet of target material. The goal is to get enough pressure and temperature to cause fusion of hydrogen into helium. Accomplishing this would bring fusion power to our electrical power grid. NIF is still ramping up to reach fusion power

- As NIF is progressing many experiments with high pressures and high temperatures are being conducted. Diamonds and tantalum samples have been put under50,000,000 atmospheric pressure. Later his year the plans are to double this pressure to 100,000,000 atmospheres. The plan is to reach temperatures of 100,000,000 C and pressures of 100,000,000,000 atmospheres. The center of the Sun is only 15,000,000 C. If controlled fusion can be created, the temperatures could operate steam turbines and run a 1,000 megawatt power plant. Fusion reactions have little radioactivity and safe for the environment. See review #1170 for more info. on NIF. An announcement will be made shortly, stay tuned.

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707-536-3272, Friday, February 10, 2012