Do sound waves affect the distance between protons in an atom?

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In summary, the conversation discusses the effects of atomic vibrations on the behavior of protons and virtual particles. It is clarified that there is no sound strong enough to influence the internal structure of nuclei and that virtual particles are not real. The example of a guitar string is used to illustrate the difference in scales between atomic vibrations and the forces within a nucleus. It is also mentioned that the idea of trying to rip apart a solid object by standing next to it is more realistic than trying to influence the internal structure of atoms through sound.
  • #1
HawkI
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When an atom vibrates more than usual, say for example effected by a sound wave, do it's protons repel each other further apart than normal? Thus more charged virtual Pions occurring and decaying (discombobulating) into virtual W+ bosons?

Edit: I know that accelerated charged particles create a magnetic field but I don't want to assume things.
 
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  • #2
There is no sound strong enough to influence the internal structure of nuclei. The materials simply cannot transmit the massive forces needed for that. You would completely evaporate and ionize your sample in the attempt.
HawkI said:
Thus more charged virtual Pions occurring and decaying (discombobulating) into virtual W+ bosons?
Virtual particles are not real. You cannot count them.
 
  • #3
atomic vibration is natural, if say I plucked a Guitar string it would oscilate very fast, the atoms moving faster bumping the atoms around it which would continue into a pressure wave

Pions bring protons together, when protons come further apart they become charged pions to make up for the distance

protons repell each other, the more protons move the more of a magnetic field they create

the guitar string is made up of atoms so the protons in each atom would be moving more

in this example would there be more not real charged pions? thankyou for the responce so far i will try harder in future to make my questions clearer
 
  • #4
There are no real pions at all.

The scales are completely different. It's like trying to rip apart a solid object by standing next to it and hoping that the own gravitational attraction will split it. It won't.
Let's say the guitar string oscillates by 1cm with 1 kHz. That makes 200 km/s^2 peak acceleration, or a force of 3*10-22 N on a single proton to follow that motion. This has to be compared with typical energies of 10 MeV and typical distances of 1 fm in a nucleus, which gives a typical force of about 1kN. The oscillation is 23 orders of magnitude weaker than the forces inside a nucleus. A factor of 100000000000000000000000!
Actually, trying to rip a solid object apart by standing next to it is much more "realistic", just ~15 orders of magnitude.
 
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  • #5
Hey that's some interesting stuff right there, I'm not trying to rip apart, evaporate or ionize atoms here. I looked into sound energy and it's kinetic. The more the Earth spins, the more the lava inside moves thus more magnetic fields, that's what I mean by protons moving.

And thank you again mfb you have answered my question :)
 
  • #6
You have the wrong model of the atom in your mind ...
 

Related to Do sound waves affect the distance between protons in an atom?

What is a proton?

A proton is a subatomic particle that is found in the nucleus of an atom. It has a positive charge and contributes to the mass of an atom.

What is the mass of a proton?

The mass of a proton is approximately 1.67 x 10^-27 kilograms. This is about 1,836 times the mass of an electron.

How many protons are in an atom?

The number of protons in an atom determines its atomic number and identifies what element it is. For example, all carbon atoms have 6 protons, while all oxygen atoms have 8 protons.

What is the charge of a proton?

A proton has a positive charge of +1. This is equal and opposite to the charge of an electron, which has a negative charge of -1.

How do protons behave in an atom?

Protons are tightly bound together in the nucleus of an atom. They are held together by the strong nuclear force, which overcomes the repulsive force between the positively charged protons. In an atom, protons also interact with electrons, creating a balance of positive and negative charges that keeps the atom stable.

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