Something weird happens when you keep squeezing
TLDRThe script explores the effects of extreme pressures on matter, from the Earth's surface to the core and beyond. It explains how substances like hydrogen, sodium, and water change under increasing pressure, leading to the formation of new phases such as Ice-VII and metallic hydrogen. The journey illustrates the warping of physics under such conditions and introduces the Center for Matter at Atomic Pressures (CMAP) at the University of Rochester, where researchers use powerful lasers to study these phenomena, shedding light on the potential for clean energy through nuclear fusion.
Takeaways
- 🌊 Water is nearly incompressible, only decreasing in volume by about 1% even under extreme pressures like those in an industrial hydraulic press.
- 🌍 Atmospheric pressure at Earth's surface is equivalent to the weight of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson on a phone-sized area, but we don't notice it due to the equilibrium of air pressure from all directions.
- 🧱 As pressure increases underwater, certain marine life appear 'depressed' or like jello due to the high pressure keeping them compressed.
- 🐋 Sperm whales can dive to depths of 1000 atmospheres, and their bodies adapt to withstand such extreme pressures without being crushed.
- 💎 Diamonds form under extreme pressure and high temperatures within Earth's mantle, where carbon is squeezed into a tight crystal structure.
- 🔧 At pressures around 1 million atmospheres, water molecules can be compressed to the point where they form a different crystal structure, Ice-VII, found inside diamonds.
- 🌋 The Omega EP laser at the University of Rochester's Center for Matter at Atomic Pressures (CMAP) can recreate pressures found deep within Earth and study matter under such conditions.
- 🔄 Matter under extreme pressure can exhibit unexpected properties, such as metals becoming transparent and gases turning into solids, which could invert the periodic table's typical behaviors.
- ☀️ In the sun, pressures exceed 100 billion atmospheres, where hydrogen nuclei can fuse to form helium, releasing energy in the process known as nuclear fusion.
- 🚀 Researchers are exploring the possibility of harnessing nuclear fusion on Earth for a near-limitless source of clean, cheap power by studying these processes with giant lasers.
Q & A
What happens to water when it is subjected to extreme pressures?
-Under extreme pressures, such as those found in the Earth's core or inside the Sun, water undergoes significant changes. It can be compressed to a much greater extent than under normal conditions, leading to the formation of different states of matter, such as Ice-VII and Ice-XVIII, which have different crystal structures and properties compared to regular ice.
How does the pressure at the Earth's surface compare to the pressure inside a hydraulic press?
-The pressure at the Earth's surface, which is atmospheric pressure, is significantly less than the pressure generated by a hydraulic press. The hydraulic press can exert thousands of tons of force, leading to a volume decrease of about 1% in water, whereas the pressure at the Earth's surface is equivalent to the weight of Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson balancing on top of a phone.
What is the role of the Omega EP laser at the University of Rochester's Center for Matter at Atomic Pressures (CMAP)?
-The Omega EP laser at CMAP is used to create extreme pressures by focusing a laser beam onto a tiny sample of matter. This process generates a shockwave that compresses the sample, allowing scientists to study the behavior of matter under conditions similar to those found deep within the Earth or other celestial bodies.
How does the behavior of hydrogen gas change under high pressure?
-Under high pressure, hydrogen gas molecules are compressed to the point where they lose the space between them. This can lead to a phase transition where hydrogen becomes a solid, and in even more extreme conditions, such as those found in the core of Jupiter, it is thought to become a metallic hydrogen, which is a conductor of electricity.
What is the significance of the discovery of Ice-VII and Ice-XVIII?
-The discovery of Ice-VII and Ice-XVIII is significant because they represent different structural forms of water under extreme pressure. Ice-VII has a tighter cubic lattice, while Ice-XVIII is four times denser than normal ice and can conduct electricity almost as well as a metal. These findings expand our understanding of the behavior of water and other substances under high pressure conditions.
How does pressure affect the physical properties of sodium?
-When sodium is subjected to extreme pressure, it undergoes a transformation where it turns transparent. This is because the free-flowing electrons, which normally absorb and retransmit light, are squeezed into localized pockets and can no longer interact with light, allowing it to pass through the material.
What is the process of nuclear fusion as it occurs in the Sun?
-Nuclear fusion in the Sun involves the combination of hydrogen nuclei to form helium under extremely high pressures and temperatures. This process releases a tremendous amount of energy, which is the ultimate source of all energy in our solar system.
How do scientists study matter under conditions that normally only exist deep inside the Earth?
-Scientists use tools like the Omega EP laser to create and study matter under extreme conditions. By focusing a laser beam onto a small sample, they can momentarily recreate the high pressures and temperatures found deep within the Earth, allowing them to observe and understand the behavior of matter in such environments.
What is the role of the Center for Matter at Atomic Pressures (CMAP) in advancing our understanding of matter?
-CMAP is dedicated to conducting fundamental physics research to understand how matter behaves under a variety of conditions, especially those that are typically found only at atomic pressures. The center provides a platform for scientists worldwide to perform experiments that help uncover the rules governing the behavior of matter under extreme conditions.
What is the significance of the experiment where a tiny bit of Ice-VII was sandwiched between two diamonds?
-The experiment with Ice-VII sandwiched between two diamonds allowed researchers to study the behavior of water under pressures above 2 million atmospheres. During the experiment, the ice's atoms rearranged into a denser form known as Ice-XVIII, which has unique properties, such as the ability to conduct electricity almost as well as a metal. This experiment provided valuable insights into the transformations that can occur under extreme conditions.
How do the transformations of materials under extreme pressure challenge our understanding of the periodic table?
-The transformations of materials under extreme pressure can invert the properties we typically associate with elements in the periodic table. For example, metals might become transparent, transparent materials could turn into metals, and gases might solidify. These changes challenge our current understanding and require further research to fully comprehend the behavior of elements under such conditions.
Outlines
🌊 The Incompressibility of Water and Journey to Extreme Pressures
This paragraph introduces the concept of water's incompressibility by demonstrating that even with significant force, such as from an industrial hydraulic press, water's volume only decreases minimally. It then poses hypothetical scenarios of water being subjected to extreme pressures found in Earth's core or the Sun and sets the stage for a deeper exploration into the effects of such pressures. The paragraph also touches on the infancy of this field of physics and the challenges in understanding how extreme pressures alter the known laws of physics. The journey begins at Earth's surface, comparing atmospheric pressure to the weight of a phone, and continues downwards through various pressure milestones, highlighting changes in substances like hydrogen, sodium, and water under increasing pressure.
🔧 Experimenting with Matter at Atomic Pressures
The second paragraph delves into the study of matter under extreme conditions that are typically found deep within the Earth. It discusses the Center for Matter at Atomic Pressures (CMAP) at the University of Rochester, which aims to understand the fundamental physics of matter under such conditions. The Omega EP laser at CMAP is highlighted as a tool capable of creating extreme pressures by using a laser beam to momentarily recreate pressures equivalent to those found deep within Earth. The process involves focusing a laser on a tiny sample, causing an explosion that generates a shockwave and immense pressure. The paragraph also describes the transformation of ice under such conditions, with Ice-VII turning into Ice-XVIII, which is four times denser and can conduct electricity like a metal. The narrative then continues the hypothetical journey deeper, discussing the changes in sodium and the potential transformations of hydrogen in larger planetary bodies like Jupiter.
☀️ Nuclear Fusion and the Energy within Extreme Pressures
The final paragraph discusses the ultimate effects of extreme pressures within the Sun, where the forces are so great that they overcome the atomic bonds, allowing hydrogen nuclei to fuse into helium. This process, known as nuclear fusion, is the source of all energy in our solar system. The paragraph explores the potential of recreating this process on Earth for a limitless, clean, and cheap power source, and mentions that researchers are using giant lasers, including the Omega laser, to study this possibility. It concludes by emphasizing the newness of this field and the many unanswered questions about how elements and substances behave under different conditions, which could impact our understanding of planetary evolution and the potential for life.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Syringe
💡Hydraulic Press
💡Earth's Core
💡Matter
💡Pressure
💡Diamond
💡Hydrogen
💡Nuclear Fusion
💡Center for Matter at Atomic Pressures (CMAP)
💡Ice-VII
💡Ice-XVIII
Highlights
A syringe full of water can't be compressed easily, not even by an industrial hydraulic press.
Water subjected to extreme pressures, like those in Earth's core or the Sun, undergoes bizarre transformations that physicists are just beginning to understand.
Atmospheric pressure on Earth's surface is equivalent to the weight of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson balancing on a phone.
Hydrogen gas can shrink significantly under pressure, as demonstrated by the balloon shrinking to the size of a marble at 1000 atmospheres.
Solid sodium and liquid water are barely compressed even at extreme pressures due to the electrostatic repulsion between molecules.
At 100,000 atmospheres, rock is compressed into its solid form, and hydrogen and sodium melt into liquid states.
Water under extreme pressure forms a solid with a tighter cubic lattice known as Ice-VII, which has been found trapped inside diamonds.
At Earth's core, pressures reach 1 million atmospheres, which is the point where external forces start to overwhelm the internal forces within matter.
The Center for Matter at Atomic Pressures (CMAP) at the University of Rochester is dedicated to understanding matter under extreme conditions.
The Omega EP laser at CMAP can create pressures equivalent to those deep within Earth by blasting a tiny sample with a laser beam.
In 2017, researchers used the Omega laser to create Ice-XVIII, a denser form of ice that can conduct electricity almost as well as metal, by compressing Ice-VII.
At the center of the Earth, pressures continue to rise, and in larger planets like Jupiter, hydrogen is theorized to become a shiny conductor of electricity.
The core of the Sun, under extreme pressures over 100 billion atmospheres, facilitates nuclear fusion, the process that powers our solar system.
Scientists are using giant lasers to study the possibility of recreating nuclear fusion on Earth, which could provide a near limitless source of clean, cheap power.
The study of matter under extreme conditions is a new frontier in physics, with many unknowns remaining about the behavior of elements and substances.
Researchers conduct experiments in split-second increments to chip away at the unknowns in the field of physics under extreme conditions.
Transcripts
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