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Asked by anon-375971 on 23 Nov 2023.
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Octavia Brayley answered on 23 Nov 2023:
Great question! I don’t know too much about Physics, but I did a quick internet search. Atoms were created after the Big Bang 13.7 billion years ago. As the hot, dense new universe cooled, conditions became suitable for quarks and electrons to form. Quarks came together to form protons and neutrons, and these particles combined into nuclei. It took 380,000 years for the universe to cool enough to slow down the electrons so that the nuclei could capture them to form the first atoms. The earliest atoms were primarily hydrogen and helium, which are still the most abundant elements in the universe, according to Jefferson Lab. Gravity eventually caused clouds of gas to coalesce and form stars, and heavier atoms were (and still are) created within the stars and sent throughout the universe when the star exploded (supernova).
And here’s a video to watch:
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Ian McKinley answered on 23 Nov 2023:
As a little expansion to Octavia’s answer, new atoms are continually being produced and other ones destroyed. Production of larger atoms from smaller ones occurs in space, mainly within suns and when suns collapse (for example in supernovas) but also in the upper atmosphere. Some large atoms are unstable and will break down to form smaller ones. This process, radioactive decay, can be very slow so that some unstable atoms present when Earth formed are still decaying today.
Transformations of atoms are very important in many areas of science and technology (and medicine) and you will learn much more about these if you become a scientist. -
Jonathan Allen answered on 24 Nov 2023:
Great answers already – but just to add that it’s the (relatively recent – less that last 100 years) discovery that we can split atoms in two that has led to the ability to have nuclear power. Before then we thought the smallest things in the universe were atoms, but now we know there are smaller things that make up atoms (as Octavia describes). Nuclear power is a clean form of electricity generation because it does not contribute to climate change. It works by bombarding atoms so that they split and release protons and heat energy – the protons hit more atoms to make them split and release their heat energy. The heat energy is used to heat up a fluid (often water) to produce steam and make a turbine spin, which generates electricity.
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