Re: Are new atoms being created everyday?

Dear Donna,

This is an excellent question!

The short answer is yes, atoms are being created all the time.

The longer answer is that some atoms are being created and some atoms are
being destroyed. While we have some conservation law-- energy and momentum,
for example-- nothing really requires the conservation of matter or of atoms.

As I'm sure you and your students know, atoms are made up of protons,
neutrons, and electrons. The number of protons in an atom tells us what
kind of atom we have.

One way that atoms are created through the process that makes the Sun and
other stars shine. It's called nuclear fusion and basically involves
mashing protons and neutrons together to form new atoms-- some hydrogen,
some helium, some lithium, etc, all the way up to iron.

Another way to make new atoms is through a supernova. That's when a old,
big star explodes. In fact, supernovae are the only natural way to make
elements heavier than iron. So you and I, since we've got  tiny amounts of
elements like copper and zinc in us, are made of exploded stars! The same
goes for our gold and silver jewelry.

A third way to make new atoms is through radioactive decay. There are lots
of things that are radioactive, and when some of them decay, they change
from one kind of element to another. A special kind of radioactive decay is
called nuclear fission and means the atom splits into two much smaller
chunks-- that's what happens inside a nuclear power reactor.

Yet another way to make new atoms is in science experiments. For example,
at Michigan State's National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory,
scientists shoot different atoms at targets to make new kinds of atoms that
have never been seen before!

I hope this helps!