Naked Science Forum
Non Life Sciences => Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology => Topic started by: Stevie Bain on 25/09/2017 13:32:28
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Joyal would like to know:
What happens when a hydrogen particle collides with an object which is moving faster than the speed of sound?
Can you help?
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We can come back to the speed part later, but first let's just examine a hydrogen atom colliding with something else.
There are a few possible outcomes: the hydrogen atom can bounce off in-tact (still containing 1 proton and 1 electron), or both proton and electron stick to the object (or just the electron sticks, or just the proton sticks)
Separation of charges requires a significant amount of energy, so outcomes that involve separation of the electron and proton are typically unfavorable, unless the temperature is very high (high speed, high kinetic energy), or the object is highly chemically reactive (high potential energy).
Hydrogen atoms themselves are highly reactive species, and will react with most substances. These reactions typically involve both the proton and electron sticking. But one must remember that macroscopically observed reactivity involves many, many collisions, most of which are unproductive (atom just bounces off) even a scenario where only 1 in a million collisions results in a reaction the observed rate of reaction can still be quite high!
Whether the hydrogen atom sticks or bounces off will be determined by the properties of whatever it is bumping into, and the speed and trajectory of the incoming hydrogen atom. (because the hydrogen atom is likely much lighter than anything it would be bumping into, it is easy to think of the frame of reference where the hydrogen atom is moving and the "object" is stationary).
What kind of object did you have in mind? A molecule? An atom? A nanoparticle? A baseball? A planet? A star? A muon? A photon?
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A Higgs boson maybe?