Difference Between Natural and Artificial Transmutation

The key difference between natural and artificial transmutation is that natural transmutation is the radioactive decay that occurs in the core of stars. Whereas, artificial transmutation is the conversion of an element into another element artificially.

Transmutation is the change in the atomic nuclei, which leads to the conversion of a chemical element into a different chemical element. There are two types of transmutation: natural and artificial transmutation.

CONTENTS

1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Natural Transmutation
3. What is Artificial Transmutation
4. Side by Side Comparison – Natural vs Artificial Transmutation in Tabular Form
5. Summary

What is Natural Transmutation?

Natural transmutation is a type of nuclear transmutation which occurs naturally. Here, the number of protons or neutrons in the atomic nuclei of a particular chemical element changes, which converts a chemical element into a different chemical element. Natural transmutation occurs in the core of stars via stellar nucleosynthesis. This means in the core of the stars, nuclear fusion reactions create new chemical elements. In most stars, these fusion reactions occur with hydrogen and helium. However, large stars can perform fusion reactions using heavy elements such as iron.

A common example of natural transmutation is the radioactive decay of radioactive elements, which occurs spontaneously (alpha decay and beta decay). For example, most of the argon gas in air is formed from the natural transmutation of potassium-40. Moreover, unlike in artificial transmutation, natural transmutation occurs in the presence of a single reactant because a second reactant is not required to initiate the reaction.

What is Artificial Transmutation?

Artificial transmutation is a type of nuclear transmutation we can perform artificially. And, this type of transmutations occurs via the bombardment of an atomic nucleus with another particle. This reaction can convert a particular chemical element into a different chemical element. The first experimental reaction for this reaction was the bombardment of a nitrogen atom with an alpha particle to produce oxygen. Usually, the newly formed chemical element shows radioactivity. We name these elements as tracer elements. The most common particles that are used for bombardment are alpha particles and deuteron.

Moreover, artificial transmutation can take place in machines where a large amount of energy is produced; this is enough to alternate the nuclear chemical structure of atoms; for example, particle accelerators, different nuclear reactors, etc. Typically, artificial transmutation occurs via fission reactions.

What is the Difference Between Natural and Artificial Transmutation?

Transmutation is the change in the atomic nuclei, which leads to the conversion of a chemical element into a different chemical element. There are two types of transmutation: natural and artificial transmutation. The key difference between natural and artificial transmutation is that natural transmutation is the radioactive decay that occurs in the core of stars whereas artificial transmutation is the conversion of an element into another element artificially.

Moreover, natural transmutation reactions usually take place via fusion reactions, while artificial transmutation occurs mostly via fission reactions. So, this is another difference between natural and artificial transmutation. In addition to these, natural transmutations involve a single reactant and a spontaneous reaction, whereas artificial transmutation involves a chemical element and a particle to initiate fission reaction. Particles we can use for this purpose are alpha particles and deuterons. For example, natural transmutation is the major reaction that occurs in the core of stars. Meanwhile, artificial transmutation can occur in heavy machinery which produces a large amount of energy.

Summary – Natural vs Artificial Transmutation

Transmutation is the change in the atomic nuclei that leads to the conversion of a chemical element into a different chemical element. There are two types of transmutation: natural and artificial transmutation. The key difference between natural and artificial transmutation is that natural transmutation is the radioactive decay that occurs in the core of stars whereas artificial transmutation is the conversion of an element into another element artificially.

Reference:

1. “11.4: Artificial Transmutation.” Chemistry LibreTexts, Libretexts, 20 Aug. 2019, Available here.

Image Courtesy:

1. “Sun in X-Ray” By NASA Goddard Laboratory for Atmospheres and Yohkoh Legacy data Archive – NASA Goddard Laboratory for Atmospheres,  Yohkoh mission of ISAS, Japan (Public Domain) via Commons Wikimedia
2. “SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory Aerial 2” By Victor Blacus – Derived from File:SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory Aerial.jpg (Public Domain) via Commons Wikimedia