What would happened if you exposed an atom to its exact opposite vibration?

Question

This is mostly based on what I remember from my science classes. I asked this question to a teacher back then and he was unsure about the outcome. Basically, if I remember correctly, every atom has a unique vibration pattern. Hydrogen does not vibrate in the same manner as oxygen does.

I also remember reading that if you have a sound (a specific vibration frequency) and that you emit the exact opposite frequency, the sound would be negated. This theory was also studied as means to reduce the impact of earthquakes.

What would happen to an atom if it were to be exposed to a vibration that is the exact opposit of its natural frequency?

My teacher said it could most likely be the absolute zero, or disintegration, or it could be any other results that he could not forsee.

Answer 1

Good question. The previous answers are correct if you assume, as they did, a particle behaving as a particle. But what if we take the wave nature of a particle? A particle we know is both a wave AND a particle, or at least, behaves like both in many situations, so, from a wave behaviour, what happens? I do not know, but I know the question will have and interesting explanation, if we consider the wave duality of a particle.

Answer 2

There is no such thing as an opposite frequency.

I presume you mean one vibrating at the same frequency, but 180 degrees out of phase.

Presuming you are actually talking about vibration, then nothing would happen, except perhaps that they would both quit vibrating, being the energy of vibration of the two cancels out.

With sound, you are not talking about opposite frequency, but the same frequency, just 180 degrees out of phase. They do cancel each other out.

You sound like you are trying to describe the resonance frequency of a material. In that case, the is absolutely nothing like an opposite of that. Harmonics, yes, non-harmonic resonance frequencies too, but nothing that corrosponds to opposite.

The only thing that will destroy both, would be a particle and it's anti-particle. You could have actual matter and anti-matter, say like a hydrogen atom and it's anti-matter analogue, a positron orbiting a anti-proton. Then you'd get annihilation with the release of a great deal of energy.

Answer 3

A single atom does not vibrate. The simplest is the hydrogen atom, with a single electron orbiting a single proton. Like a moon orbiting a planet, when the electron is at the eastern extreme of its orbit, the proton is at its extreme western position, keeping their center of mass constant. This isn't really vibration, and this continues as long as it's a hydrogen atom.

Combine two hydrogen atoms into a molecule and you can get some vibration.

Picture a hydrogen molecule as a dancing couple, always moving closer and farther apart, spinning, twirling, and crossing the dance floor. Start lowering their energy and they cover less distance across the floor. Remove more energy and they have very little movement across the floor, and are packed tightly with all the other dancers. They are now in liquid form. Cool them more and they stop twirling. Cool more and they spin only in the directions of lowest energy (parahydrogen, with the two partners having opposite spin). But they never have no spin. Cool them more and they don't have enough energy to break the bonds with adjacent couples and just stay in place. They may get a little closer to some neighbors and a little farther from others, but their relative position doesn't change. This is the solid state. But as far as we know, hydrogen doesn't have a solid state. Cool them more and their motions relative to their neighbors get smaller, and their movements toward and away from each other get smaller. The point where you can no longer reduce their movement is called absolute zero. But even at absolute zero, each dancer still 'spins' and electrons still orbit the nucleus.

How do you do this cooling? You can't force the energy out of the couple. You can only set up a situation where they willingly give up energy. Fill the dance floor with other dancers at a lower energy level. At each collision, your couple gives up some of its energy to other dancers.

Answer 4

you've got to remember the diff between particle behavior and wave behavior. destructive interference (which is what i think you are talking about) is an effect/property/product of wave behaviour.
however if you assume your particle is not a wave then there will be no interference just changes to teh style of collision/interaction occuring. on a very basic level the particles would be colliduing with greater momentum as they would be meeting with same but opposite velocities, then moving away from each other in same manner - think newtons cradle maybe??

Answer 5

The end of the World as we know it?

Don't do it.