{"id":47905,"date":"2025-05-09T14:48:37","date_gmt":"2025-05-09T09:18:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=47905"},"modified":"2025-05-29T11:53:17","modified_gmt":"2025-05-29T06:23:17","slug":"lead-to-gold-transmutation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/lead-to-gold-transmutation\/","title":{"rendered":"Lead-to-Gold Transmutation"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Lead-to-Gold Transmutation Latest News<\/h2>\n<p>CERN\u2019s ALICE detector has experimentally confirmed the conversion of lead into gold through a process of nuclear transmutation at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC).<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: inherit; font-size: 35px; font-style: inherit;\">About Chrysopoeia<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The concept of turning\u00a0<strong>lead into gold<\/strong>, known as\u00a0<strong>chrysopoeia<\/strong>, was a\u00a0<strong>medieval alchemist\u2019s dream<\/strong>, based on the similar\u00a0<strong>density<\/strong>\u00a0of the two metals, but modern science clarified that they are\u00a0<strong>distinct chemical elements<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0<strong>chemical methods<\/strong>\u00a0cannot achieve such a transformation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Mechanism of Transmutation<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Gold nuclei (Au-203)<\/strong>\u00a0are created when\u00a0<strong>three protons<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0<strong>two neutrons<\/strong>\u00a0are\u00a0<strong>ejected<\/strong>\u00a0from\u00a0<strong>lead nuclei (Pb-208)<\/strong>\u00a0during\u00a0<strong>ultra-peripheral collisions<\/strong>\u00a0in the LHC, where nuclei pass close without directly colliding.<\/li>\n<li>These near-miss collisions generate\u00a0<strong>strong electromagnetic fields<\/strong>\u00a0due to the\u00a0<strong>82 protons<\/strong>\u00a0in each lead nucleus moving at\u00a0<strong>99.999993% of the speed of light<\/strong>, compressing the field into a short-lived\u00a0<strong>photon pulse<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>The process, called\u00a0<strong>electromagnetic dissociation<\/strong>, triggers\u00a0<strong>internal nuclear oscillations<\/strong>, causing the emission of\u00a0<strong>protons and neutrons<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Role of ALICE Detector and ZDC<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>The\u00a0<strong>ALICE detector<\/strong>\u00a0utilises\u00a0<strong>Zero Degree Calorimeters (ZDCs)<\/strong>\u00a0to\u00a0<strong>identify photon\u2013nucleus interactions<\/strong>\u00a0and detect the ejection of\u00a0<strong>zero, one, two, or three protons<\/strong>, linked to the formation of\u00a0<strong>lead, thallium, mercury<\/strong>, and\u00a0<strong>gold<\/strong>, respectively.<\/li>\n<li>This is the\u00a0<strong>first systematic experimental detection<\/strong>\u00a0of gold creation at the LHC, thanks to ALICE\u2019s\u00a0<strong>high precision<\/strong>\u00a0in recording both\u00a0<strong>high-energy<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0<strong>rare low-particle<\/strong>\u00a0collisions.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>About the Large Hadron Collider (LHC)<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The\u00a0<strong>LHC<\/strong>\u00a0is the\u00a0<strong>world\u2019s largest and most powerful particle accelerator<\/strong>, built by\u00a0<strong>CERN<\/strong>\u00a0to study\u00a0<strong>fundamental particles<\/strong>\u00a0and test predictions of the\u00a0<strong>Standard Model<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>It consists of a\u00a0<strong>27-kilometre circular ring<\/strong>\u00a0with\u00a0<strong>superconducting magnets<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0<strong>accelerating structures<\/strong>, located on the\u00a0<strong>Franco-Swiss border<\/strong>\u00a0near\u00a0<strong>Geneva<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>Inside,\u00a0<strong>two beams of hadrons (usually protons or lead nuclei)<\/strong>\u00a0are accelerated to\u00a0<strong>99.999999% the speed of light<\/strong>\u00a0in\u00a0<strong>opposite directions<\/strong>, then made to\u00a0<strong>collide<\/strong>\u00a0at four detector sites:\u00a0<strong>ALICE, ATLAS, CMS, and LHCb<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>About CERN<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>CERN (European Organisation for Nuclear Research)<\/strong>\u00a0was established in\u00a0<strong>1954<\/strong>\u00a0as Europe\u2019s\u00a0<strong>first joint scientific venture<\/strong>\u00a0after WWII.<\/li>\n<li>It is headquartered near\u00a0<strong>Geneva<\/strong>, with\u00a0<strong>23 member states<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0<strong>10 associate members<\/strong>, including\u00a0<strong>India as an Associate Member<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>CERN is dedicated to\u00a0<strong>collaborative high-energy particle physics research<\/strong>\u00a0and houses the\u00a0<strong>LHC and its associated detectors<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Lead-to-Gold Transmutation FAQs<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Q1.\u00a0<\/strong>What is ALICE in the context of CERN?<br \/>\n<strong>Ans.<\/strong>\u00a0ALICE (A Large Ion Collider Experiment) is a major detector at CERN\u2019s Large Hadron Collider (LHC), designed to study heavy-ion collisions and investigate conditions similar to those just after the Big Bang.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q2.\u00a0<\/strong>Where is CERN located, and why is it relevant to India?<br \/>\n<strong>Ans.<\/strong>\u00a0CERN is located on the Franco\u2013Swiss border, and India is an associate member of CERN, contributing to research and scientific collaboration.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Source:\u00a0<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2025-05-alice-conversion-gold-large-hadron.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">PHY<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>ALICE observed lead-to-gold transmutation in ultra-peripheral collisions, where lead nuclei interact via strong electromagnetic fields without direct contact.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":47832,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[505,21,23],"class_list":{"0":"post-47905","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-prelims-current-affairs","8":"tag-lead-to-gold-transmutation","9":"tag-prelims-pointers","10":"tag-upsc-prelims-current-affairs","11":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47905","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47905"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47905\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47832"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47905"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47905"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47905"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}