Scientists accidentally create gold from lead at Large Hadron Collider

In a remarkable case of accidental modern alchemy, physicists at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in Switzerland have transformed lead into gold during high-energy collision experiments, according to Monash University physics professor Ulrik Egede.

Writing in The Conversation, Professor Egede explains that while smashing lead atoms together at near light-speed, researchers at the ALICE experiment inadvertently produced tiny amounts of gold—just 29 trillionths of a gram.

“The gold was created while scientists were smashing lead atoms into each other at almost the speed of light to mimic the state of the Universe around the time of the Big Bang,” Professor Egede explains. “The electromagnetic forces generated when an atom’s nucleus collides can cause parts of the nucleus to break away. The gold was created when exactly three protons left the lead nucleus.”

This transmutation occurs when lead nuclei graze past each other, creating powerful electromagnetic fields that strip protons from the atoms. Remove exactly three protons from lead, and you get gold.

The ALICE scientists calculate they produce about 89,000 gold nuclei per second during their experiments, though they can only detect this indirectly through specialized equipment called zero-degree calorimeters.

While medieval alchemists would be thrilled, Professor Egede notes this won’t revolutionize jewelry production: “Unfortunately for jewellery enthusiasts, there is not even a remote chance this method could be used to develop gold in any usable quantity… it would take billions of years to create just a single gram of gold this way.”

Far from being valuable, this transmutation is actually considered a nuisance by researchers since it reduces beam intensity over time as the newly-created gold atoms collide with the accelerator walls.

Picture: a gold nugget from Australia on display at the Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago (credit James St. John, CC BY 2.0)