That scene in Iron Man 2 when Tony Stark ‘creates a new element’. Is something like that possible, and how?
In: Technology
Yes. How?
– Combine existing elements to make something like plutonium. It’s a “new element” in the sense that the atoms coming out are different elements than the ones you put in, and it’s not an element we can find in nature. But it’s not a new scientific discovery. Scientists have known about plutonium for quite a while.
– Find an element slightly heavier than the ones we know about. It’ll probably be super unstable and break apart quickly — you’d be lucky if it lasts a couple seconds. So good luck upgrading your Iron Man suit or doing other crazy superhero stuff with it. But you’ll get a lot of credit for the scientific achievement!
– Find an element on an [island of stability](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Island_of_stability). Based on physics and patterns in the existing elements, some scientists suspect there might be (somewhat) stable elements way heavier than the ones we know, with specific predictable recipes that are impossible to make with the tech (and atoms) we have. Tony Stark might invent some kind of new tech that lets him build these elements.
– Build an atom out of antimatter. Yes, antimatter is real. Yes, we know how to create antimatter particles. Yes, you can take anti-electrons and anti-protons, and build anti-atoms out of them. No, most of the antimatter elements haven’t been built yet, because it’s super difficult to work with antimatter with today’s technology.
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