For centuries, alchemists tried to unlock the ability to turn lead into gold. They believed the right mystical process or chemical concoction could transform one base metal into a precious one. While their methods never worked, their dream wasn’t as far-fetched as it once seemed. Now, modern physicists have pulled it off—no magic required.
The key to success lies in understanding atomic structure. The only difference between a lead atom and a gold atom is three protons. Lead has 82, gold has 79. So, in theory, stripping three protons from a lead nucleus should result in gold. The challenge is that protons are tightly bound inside the nucleus by nuclear force, one of the most powerful forces in nature.
Scientists at CERN weren’t even trying to turn lead into gold when they did it, according to a post on The Conversation. The group was experimenting with the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) when they noticed that lead atoms appeared to be shedding enough protons to turn it into gold.
They then began experimenting more. They accelerated beams of lead nuclei to near light speed and smashed them into each other. When these high-speed nuclei just grazed past one another—not colliding head-on—their intense electric fields interacted.
That interaction can be powerful enough to vibrate the nuclei and cause them to emit protons. And if exactly three protons are shed, the lead becomes gold. Scientists can’t observe the gold nuclei directly, but by counting how many protons are knocked loose using special detectors called zero-degree calorimeters, they can calculate how many gold atoms are created.
Based on the above information, the researchers claim that roughly 89,000 gold nuclei were created every second. But don’t get too excited. These gold atoms are tiny, short-lived, and entirely useless for commerce.
The total amount of gold produced is just a few trillionths of a gram. What’s more, these altered atoms don’t stay in the collider beam as they quickly slam into the walls, weakening the beam over time. This means the gold eventually turns back into lead.
So, for physicists, this transmutation is more of a problem than a payoff.
