As an extra one, what would happen if one in every 10 atoms was to vanish from existence.
Not a scientist, but my first assumption would be that everything on earth, but also earth itself will double in size, knock ourself around our nice orbit around the sun and kill everyone either flashly or coldly.
Ignoring that problem, or applying the effect to the entire universe, probably not much would happen.
Would the size doubling also double the mass? If it’s just size/volume of atoms, then the orbital mechanics shouldn’t change too much (or at all?)
The moon is about 384,400 km away, and the diameter of the earth is 12,725 km. So, doubling earth’s diameter would be 25,450 km , so we’re safe from crashing into the moon with our expansion.
The moon would be about 3% closer (if my math is right), but with no change in mass, I don’t think the orbital mechanics of it would be affected. We’d probably knock out all of our satellites from LEO to MEO, though.
(I’m probably wrong or at least off on about half of that, so please correct me if I am)
According to Internet, a big mess… (I asked Copilot…)
If atoms were to double in size, it would have profound consequences on the physical world as we know it. The size of an atom is determined by the space its electrons occupy around the nucleus. Doubling the size of atoms would mean that the electrons are further away from the nucleus, which would weaken the electromagnetic forces that hold atoms together.**
Here are some potential effects:
Chemical Bonding: The formation of chemical bonds could be significantly affected. Atoms might not be able to form multiple bonds, such as double or triple bonds, because the overlap of p orbitals would be less likely as they get farther apart.
Material Properties: The properties of materials would change drastically. For instance, metals might lose their conductivity because the delocalized electrons that allow for the flow of electricity would be too spread out. Biological Structures: The structures of proteins and DNA would be altered, potentially disrupting all biological processes. Enzymes might not function properly, and the basic mechanisms of life could fail. Physical Laws: The fundamental constants and laws that govern physical interactions would need to be redefined to accommodate the new atomic sizes. It’s important to note that this is a hypothetical scenario and not currently possible according to our understanding of physics. The size of atoms is a fundamental aspect of quantum mechanics and chemistry, and any change in atomic size would mean a change in the fundamental laws of nature.
That would result in an enormous outward pressure that would squash everything while heating it to extreme temperatures, resulting in near light speed expansion, and hurl almost all of the earth into space at extreme velocity. Instantly killing all life.
It depends if the atoms also doubled in charge though - it’s very possible that doubling in volume alone wouldn’t have any perceptible impact.
What they mean is that the size of an atom isn’t really defined. It’s got protons and neutrons in the middle, with electrons swirling around. Other atoms are kept at a distance, because the electrons repulse each other with their electric fields.
If you double the size of the protons, neutrons and electrons, that alone would not double the strength of the electric field, so other atoms would generally stay at the same distance as before…
Big brain time.
Big everything else time, too.
It’s difficult to say, because all the atoms suddenly doing that would mean that some basic laws of physics had changed, and since it isn’t specified exactly how they’ve changed to produce this strange result it’s hard to predict what might happen next.
But it seems a reasonably safe assumption that there would be a large explosion and then no more Earth.
