June 16, 2025
In a remarkable breakthrough, scientists at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), Switzerland, have transformed lead into gold. They achieved this through experiments carried out between 2015 and 2018 using the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), a particle accelerator, at CERN. Scientists conducted high-speed collisions of lead ions using a technique called ultra-peripheral collisions, where ions pass extremely close to each other without touching. The intense electromagnetic forces thus created caused some lead nuclei to shed three protons, briefly turning them into gold nuclei. Around 86 billion gold nuclei were created–roughly 29 picograms–but they existed only for a fraction of a second before breaking apart. This study could aid scientists in understanding the formation of elements in the universe’s early stages.
DID YOU KNOW?
The chemical symbol of gold, ‘Au’, originates from the Latin word for gold, ‘aurum’.
Equipment at CERN that Detects the Conversion of Lead Into Gold | Image Source: cern.com
