Physics Asked by user38863 on January 20, 2021
Supposedly If 1 proton was removed from every atom in the universe, what would happen?
I am an elementary school student not of a very high IQ so just a basic explanation would be appreciated.
Questions like the one you describe are hard to answer. What happens in such situations depends mightily on how you went about doing it. Where did the energy come to remove the proton? Where did the proton go? Did any electrons follow?
To give a sense of how quickly the situation you describe can go awry, I recommend a XKCD What If: "What if the Earth were made entirely of protons, and the Moon were made entirely of electrons".. While it isn't exactly the question you asked, it has enough similarities to help you understand just how crazy things can get when you ask hypothetical questions like you did. Also, Munroe, the author of XKCD, has a fantastic ability to answer such insane questions in a very accessible way.
You might also try asking him this question as a future "What If" for him to explore. You may, however, want to address the issue that Stephen G mentioned. Removing 1 proton from every hydrogen atom in the stars has serious life changing implications.... like ending life as we know it!
Correct answer by Cort Ammon on January 20, 2021
Removing a proton from every atom would be pretty bad.
As Hydrogen makes up most of the matter in stars as well as being in almost every important biological chemical, and it contains just one proton, removing one proton would mean that all the electrons in every Hydrogen atom would be free to wander about. Stars would cease to function as we know them and every chemical in your body would instantly be broken - you'd cease to exist as a person.
Basically, everything would instantly break.
Not just Hydrogen would be affected, but it's the most abundant atom, so it's enough damage to worry about.
Answered by StephenG on January 20, 2021
Ok, so for Hydrogen, I dont know(sorry im dumb), but every other element would become the element with its atomic number minus 1 (sorry i am not that advanced in chemistry so some advanced things i dont know). This would be very VERY VERY bad. So barium would turn into FRANCIUM, which will result in mass explosions, you and I would die due to the fact that our chemicals and stuff would change.
Answered by Robert Du on January 20, 2021
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