Last question about the LHC...maybe?

Question

god knows ive asked too many questions about the fears and such of the LHC. But i have a question about the molecules and "such" that is supposed to be made when the protons collide. When the protons collide, they are suppose to make matter that was first formed, milliseconds after the big bang. I don't know much about the conditions right after it, but couldn't all the matter somehow disrupt our matter on Earth? I'm not talking about blach holes or stranglets. Like wasn't there some type of matter that isn't around anymore and was back then, and somehow mess up our matter?

Answer 1

um...no...

how would that even be possible? the only thing that could even remotely possibly happen is some strange particle that would react with normal matter and cause it to decay into something else. i dont really see the possibility of that happening, because theres really no particle that could do that. the conditions would have to be soooo perfect. it would have to be low mass, even lower than the up quark. it would have to have the perfect electrical charge and interact with the strong nuclear force and the weak nuclear force. the only particles that can do that are quarks.

Answer 2

NO! it is not going to make anti-matter (which you are suggesting), however, that would be a good thing. Anti-matter, when it comes in contact with matter produces a massive explosion. If we can produce anti-matter it would be a great source of energy and fuel. We have already tried to.

Answer 3

The LHC won't do anything that doesn't happen in nature. It just does it under conditions where observation and study are possible.

Answer 4

You're thinking of anti-matter.  In fact, other accelerator/colliders have used anti-matter in the past. It is produced in extremely tiny amounts and annihilates an *equivalent* amount of matter.

I'm not a particle physicist by any means, but I think people need to think in more quantitative terms and remember the Law of Conservation.  This collider, physically, is a monster, but what it does is very, *very* small.  They collide a few atomic nucleii or protons at extremely high velocities and all sorts of other particles have been observed, usually for only millionths of a second before they decompose or turn into something else.

With this collider, they will probably see interactions they have never seen before.  Yes, we're talking about extremely catastrophic events, but on a sub-atomic scale.  No product of such a device has ever lasted long enough or gone far enough to be observed by anything but the most specialized detectors.  

One must also realize that the idea of some chain reaction is not considered possible.  It would represent a violation of the law of conservation of energy.  The greatest amount of energy you can get from something is matter annihilation, and the amounts are so small, you wouldn't even be able to see it.

Bottom line: there is nothing to worry about. Look forward to the great new discoveries they might make.  Believe me, there is no degree of frivolous disregard or negligence in these kinds of experiments.  To my knowledge, no one in all eight decades of this kind of research, has ever been harmed in any way by it.