Naquadah/Naquadria Physics Question

[ksoviero]

Do you think Naquadah/Naquadria is an element or a compound?

If its an element, where on the Periodic Table would you guess they reside?

[K^2]

They say it's an element on the show. It is also supposed to be very heavy. Since the rest of its properties don't make any sense, where it is on the table is anyone's guess.

[Sealurk]

I think it's probably a transuranic stable-island superheavy element. In other words, every element past uranium is radioactive, but some have nuclei with a 'magic' ratio of protons to neutrons that makes them more stable than elements surrounding them (they decay in seconds rather than fractions of seconds).

Naquadah should be hugely radioactive if that's the case!

[thekillman]

it is possible that whatever makes it so energetic and energy dense, probably also accounts for the reason it does not insta-alpha-decay

[Control_Chair]

I think it's probably a transuranic stable-island superheavy element. In other words, every element past uranium is radioactive, but some have nuclei with a 'magic' ratio of protons to neutrons that makes them more stable than elements surrounding them (they decay in seconds rather than fractions of seconds).

Naquahdriah is a derivative of Naquadah and is highly radioactive (leading to hallucinations after prolonged exposure). Perhaps it is an unstable isotope of the stable configuration described above and it is stated that it eventually decays back into Naquadah after 20,000 years.

[thekillman]

or maybe it's an even higher element which does have some normal physics apply to it

[morrismike]

I would guess that naquada a simple atom where the quarks (and other particles) are not assembled as protons and nuetron in a conventional manner. Perhap just a quark/gluon glob with enormous nuclear potential energy. The electron orbit makes it behave as if it was a metal. This substance has binding energy which is negative and decomposition of the quark/gluon mass into component stable molecules (h, he, li, be, c, o, n, si, pb, fe, ni, etc.) just needs a triggering event. Perhaps even just a chemical reaction with pottasium, plutonium, or other compounds can trigger a partial conversion while exposure to a high instantaneuous hard particle flux (i.e nuclear explosion) can trigger a runaway sub atomic reaction. naquadria would be a further excitied form with even more nuclear potential energy.

do I get a prize?

[thekillman]

so maybe an actual blob of quarks and gluons without forming nucleons?

[morrismike]

something like that
The clean fission could be nothing more than the nucleus coelescing into atoms with conventional protons/neutrons. The energy release would be kinetic energy of large ejected nucleus's (travelling only a few microns and energetic electrons (kind of like pure electrical discharge consistent with a compact device like a mark I have large raw electrical power output. Something like this in a higher energy state could be triggered by non nucleus events (heat, chemical reaction, etc.) explaining k naq reaction and magnification of nuclear blasts. I'm not sure if there is any feasible method to excite nuclues into fissioning protons and nuetrons while keeping them in the nucleus but this is scifi after all.