Post by swamprat on Jul 8, 2013 12:37:13 GMT -6
Weird Quantum Tunneling Enables 'Impossible' Space Chemistry
by Clara Moskowitz, SPACE.com Assistant Managing Editor
Date: 05 July 2013
A weird quirk of quantum mechanics is allowing a chemical reaction thought to be impossible to occur in cold gas in outer space.
In the harsh environment of space, where the temperature is about minus 350 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 210 degrees Celsius), scientists had thought a certain reaction involving alcohol molecules couldn't take place, because at such low temperatures, there shouldn't be enough energy to rearrange chemical bonds. But surprisingly, research has shown that the reaction occurs at a rate 50 times greater in space than at room temperature.
Now, by simulating the conditions of space in a laboratory, scientists have found a possible explanation for how the reaction occurs: quantum tunneling.
Tunneling depends on the odd rules of quantum mechanics, which state that particles don't usually have decided states, positions and speeds, but exist in hazes of probability. This means that a particle might have a strong probability of being located on one side of a wall, but still retain a very small chance of actually being on the other side of it, allowing it, occasionally, to "tunnel" through a wall that would otherwise be an impassable barrier.
This tunneling ability might allow particles to undergo chemical reactions that should be impossible due to the lack of energy at the low temperatures of space.
"The answer lies in quantum mechanics," chemist Dwayne Heard of the University of Leeds in the U.K., who led the research, said in a statement. "Chemical reactions get slower as temperatures decrease, as there is less energy to get over the 'reaction barrier.' But quantum mechanics tells us that it is possible to cheat and dig through this barrier instead of going over it. This is called 'quantum tunneling.'"
www.space.com/21843-quantum-tunneling-space-chemistry.html
by Clara Moskowitz, SPACE.com Assistant Managing Editor
Date: 05 July 2013
A weird quirk of quantum mechanics is allowing a chemical reaction thought to be impossible to occur in cold gas in outer space.
In the harsh environment of space, where the temperature is about minus 350 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 210 degrees Celsius), scientists had thought a certain reaction involving alcohol molecules couldn't take place, because at such low temperatures, there shouldn't be enough energy to rearrange chemical bonds. But surprisingly, research has shown that the reaction occurs at a rate 50 times greater in space than at room temperature.
Now, by simulating the conditions of space in a laboratory, scientists have found a possible explanation for how the reaction occurs: quantum tunneling.
Tunneling depends on the odd rules of quantum mechanics, which state that particles don't usually have decided states, positions and speeds, but exist in hazes of probability. This means that a particle might have a strong probability of being located on one side of a wall, but still retain a very small chance of actually being on the other side of it, allowing it, occasionally, to "tunnel" through a wall that would otherwise be an impassable barrier.
This tunneling ability might allow particles to undergo chemical reactions that should be impossible due to the lack of energy at the low temperatures of space.
"The answer lies in quantum mechanics," chemist Dwayne Heard of the University of Leeds in the U.K., who led the research, said in a statement. "Chemical reactions get slower as temperatures decrease, as there is less energy to get over the 'reaction barrier.' But quantum mechanics tells us that it is possible to cheat and dig through this barrier instead of going over it. This is called 'quantum tunneling.'"
www.space.com/21843-quantum-tunneling-space-chemistry.html