What is neutronium?

Have you ever been watching a sci-fi show like Star Trek or Stargate, and someone mentions neutronium? Ever wonder what neutronium even is? I this video I give a quick run down of the interesting properties and meanings of this very strange, and very dangerous hypothetical element.

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[venera]

Corrections and notes:

Neutronium gas would be half as dense as hydrogen, not weigh half as much.

The energy of a teaspoon of neutron star neutronium is based on the total theoretical energy of a teaspoon with a density of 10^17kg/m^3 which equates to 1.5x10^27 J. Where the sun emits around 3.8 x 10^26 J. So there is a fair bit of variability there. A lot of the energy is kinetic from compression. That's why it would release more energy than antimatter. The rapid explosion of the neutrons away from eatchother on top of the decay. it's also possible the neutron matter would decay slower than 1 second releasing the energy over a few seconds to minutes like a continuous nuclear explosion. Even adding or removing a few small amounts or changing the density by tiny amounts drastically changes the energy output so it's not a precise thing, just a general fantastical sounding factoid based on variable math.

[Hallgrenoid]

Given the fact that elements are determined by the number of protons in their nucleus, and the number of neutrons determines the isotope of that element, that would mean that *empty space* is an isotope of neutronium, which is, mildly put, ridiculous.

[JAzzWoods-ikvv]

“a free neutron can barely be called an element with a lifetime of only 15 minutes”

Meanwhile Every element after 110

[djamondaxuzm]

God I love neutronium pasta. Should say tho, neutronium pasta was "discovered" in supercomputer simulations, rather than something we've actually observed in neutron stars.

[comiccat]

The thought of neutronium gas is kind of terrifyinga. A radioactive, invisible gas that can not be contained in a solid tank

[flexico]

"Neutrons like to decay when they're all alone"

I feel ya man

[AmlanjyotiSaikia]

It enables manipulation of mass, also known as the "Mass Effect". This can be used in countless ways from generation artificial gravity, FTL travel, high strength materials, and as fuel for operation of Mass Relays.

[netsplit]

Always had trouble with Star Trek having weapons more devastating that antimatter ones. Now I see how it's actually possible. Just release neutronium on the enemy wessel.

[angeldude]

Naturally the most bizarre form of neutronium is the one that actually exists, because fiction has to make sense.
The last time I saw neutronium used in science fiction, it was quite literally being mined from a neutron star. That neutron star was then blown up by throwing a miniature black hole it. (Don't ask.)

[melkiorwiseman]

The mention of degenerate matter reminds me of the "Marathon" series, where a spaceship is powered by nuclear fusion and its artificial gravity is caused by a continuous 1G acceleration (or deceleration during the second half of the voyage). In order to be able to hold enough fuel for the journey, the hydrogen it uses is stored in "degenerate" form.
For anyone who doesn't know, degenerate matter is a theoretical form of matter where the space between the nucleus and the electrons of atoms has been removed so that the electrons effectively become part of the nucleus. It's unstable and so far as we know, can only exist inside an extreme gravity well.
And for those who have stuck with this comment to the end, here's a Fun Fact: Most of the volume of atoms is just empty space. The scale is something like, if the nucleus was the size of a basketball, the closest electron would be around the length of a football field away, and around the size of a pea.

[tumunu]

I seem to recall Mr. Spock saying that the hull of the alien vessel in "The Doomsday Machine" was *solid* neutroniium. Would love to hear a talk about how that would work!

[Bloated_Tony_Danza]

I've always had a prejudice against the proton and the electron, no idea why, but the neutron is DEFINITELY what I find to be the most interesting of the three

[hkpew]

Pretty thorough, but you missed one type of Neutronium. There was a paper published sometime in the 1980's (I think) about a form of Neutronium called Administratium. I don't remember the exact details, but Administratium consists of something like one neutron, five vice-neutrons, twelve assistant neutrons, forty-five assistant vice neutrons, ... like I said I don't remember all of the details but the total mass works out to something like 312 au. Administratium has a half life of approximately 2 1/2 years. It doesn't actually decay, though. It reorganizes, and researchers believe that in the process it actually gains mass. Chemically it is generally considered to be inert, although it seems to greatly impede any other chemical reactions which might otherwise be expected in its vicinity. The paper I saw on it was published in the Journal of Irreproducible Results, a publication I highly recommend if you can still find it anywhere.

[theprinceofinadequatelighting]

Narrator: "Dineutron"

Jimmy: "And I took that personally"

[RhapsodyInBlaah]

Have you read a novel called Dragon's Egg by Robert L. Forward? It's about a civilization that arises on the surface of a neutron star that passes through our solar system.

[michaels.chupka]

my humble thanks to you for answering a question which I've had for years. the image of the teaspoon of neutron star made me wonder what would happen should that spoonful be removed from the mass of the star. now I understand that rapid decay ensues. thank you, again.

[truvc]

I would love to hear more about hypothetical strong-interaction material such as the droplets from The Three Body Problem book series and Dragon’s Egg by Robert Forward. The idea of exotic matter like that fascinates me and I hear far less about it than I would like.

[lyiusapangolin]

¡Now I can write around with realistically terrifying neutronium in fiction! Real talk tho, this video is awesome and this is very interesting.

[hangmanntinmann]

"He's Mad enough to chew Neutronium", Scotty of Star Trek to Kirk about Vic Tayback's charactor in "A Piece of the action"

[LeTtRrZ]

I had a teaspoon of neutronium for lunch today. It was very calorie dense.