• Question: Is it possible to go trough a wall without breaking it (can you go through atoms)? [If yes; How]

    Asked by anon-267545 on 13 Nov 2020.
    • Photo: Sam Geen

      Sam Geen answered on 13 Nov 2020:

      There are a few ways to think about this:
      – Dark matter can go through walls – it goes through everything and you can only change its direction with gravity.
      – Neutrinos and other particles can travel through huge distances – to find them, we build huge swimming pools deep under the Earth and find flashes when by chance they hit an atom and make light
      – Quantum tunneling happens when you zoom in so far that particles look more like waves than particles. This is mainly for much smaller sizes than a regular wall, though.
      – You can use a magical device like this one:

      Maybe someone else has a cool idea, though!

    • Photo: Andreas Korn

      Andreas Korn answered on 14 Nov 2020:

      Going through atoms is actually not that hard as there is a lot of empty space between the nucleus and the electrons of an atom. So if one has a very thin film one can easily pass through without really damaging it. Some particle accelerators work that way. But once walls are getting thick one will eventually hit an electron or nucleus.

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