If neutronium is a material that is completely composed of neutrons that are actually in physical contact, then wouldn't a flat plane of it (hypothetically) be reflective down to the molecular level? Would an atom-sized lifeform (if one could exist) be able to see it's own reflection?
2006-11-15 04:20:17 · 8 answers · asked by brainzrgood4u 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
If it were posible for the neutronium to exist in a plane, then yes, I think so. However, neutronium is so dense that its own gravity will pull it into a sphere. If you got close enough to look at it, it would pull you in and you would be a (very thin) stain on the surface.
Neutron stars are supposed to be made mostly of neutronium. If two collided or got close enough for their tides to pull one apart, then small pieces might be left. But neutronium is supposed to be very unstable. It is only its own gravity that binds the electrons and protons together so that they merge and lose their identities.
For very massive neutron stars (just short of being black holes, I guess) their inner layers are supposedly a quark-gluon soup.
For very small ones or pieces broken off, if that is possible, if there is not enough gravity to keep the particles together, the electrons and protons will regain their identities and the nuclear interctive forces will reassert themselves, and the mesons will begin to interact between the electrons and protons again,. What would happen is that the small piece of neutronium would erupt in a burst of energy and high energy particles.
S/F writers like H. Beam Piper (in the 60's) postulated that we would learn to control nuclear forces like we learned to control electricity and have (what he called ) 'collapsium' plated spacecraft, where the outer shells of the electrons were in contact with the nuclei (what we would now call 'degenerate matter'.) Such a plating (a tiny fraction of an inch thick) would protect like several feet of lead shielding. It would also weigh more than many feet of lead shielding! (He also proposed that we would have antigravity by now.)
Theoretically, a sphere of neutronium would be perfectly reflective, and the noted s/f author Larry Niven used that feature in his classic story There Is A Tide (1968, Galaxy magazine.)
15 NOV 06, 1632 hrs, GMT.
2006-11-15 05:30:10 · answer #1 · answered by cdf-rom 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
In normal materials, reflectivity is due to the electrons which are free to absorb and re-emit electrons with the opposite momentum. In this Neutronium, there would be no electrons at all (why would they stay?) so I have no idea how light would interact with neutrons.
2006-11-15 04:29:28 · answer #2 · answered by Enrique C 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I don't think it would be reflective. Metals are reflective because outer shell electrons dissociate from individual atoms and form a cloud. Electrons interact with photons, causing the reflection. As there are no electrons in neutronium, I suspect it would be dark.
2006-11-15 04:31:09 · answer #3 · answered by novangelis 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
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2016-12-14 07:43:23 · answer #4 · answered by zell 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
First all, quantum effects don't let you build a plane of meutrons. Secondly, reflection is caused by electromagnetic reactions; a neutron has no filed associated with it. The answer is no.
2006-11-15 04:33:26 · answer #5 · answered by Gene 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Excellent question, the answer is yes, and we as humans have yet to discover the endless realm of what we refer to as minute, or microscopic...
2006-11-15 04:25:48 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Sure... why not!! I do it all the time!
2006-11-15 04:24:21 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
...if it had eyes.
2006-11-15 08:56:46 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋