Need a way to electronically detect elements

[Aresofthesea]

TL;DR Summary

I need a way to electronically detect elements for a machine I want to make.

I recently came up with the idea of the OMBARD (Object Memory Based Atom Reassembly Device). Yes, I know, it's a mouthful. Basically, it analyses the complete atomic structure of an object and stores the data. It has a storage unit filled with extremely dense matter. It can then destroy the object it analyzed. Finally, it splits apart the mass filling its storage unit with a particle accelerator. With these particles, it reassembles the object using the data it got during the analysis. I know this is thinking big, and it will take a lot of time and money, but please tell me how to electronically detect elements.

 

[anorlunda]

Your machine needs to be very fast. For example, 1 kg of CO2, has 137 x 10^23 atoms. If you process 1000 atoms per second, it will take 10^15 years to assemble that kg (if I did the math right.)

 

[berkeman]

Summary: I need a way to electronically detect elements for a machine I want to make.

I recently came up with the idea of the OMBARD (Object Memory Based Atom Reassembly Device). Yes, I know, it's a mouthful. Basically, it analyses the complete atomic structure of an object and stores the data. It has a storage unit filled with extremely dense matter. It can then destroy the object it analyzed. Finally, it splits apart the mass filling its storage unit with a particle accelerator. With these particles, it reassembles the object using the data it got during the analysis. I know this is thinking big, and it will take a lot of time and money, but please tell me how to electronically detect elements.

Welcome to the PF.

So it sounds like you are wanting to build one of these:

www.livescience.com

So it may be best to start working with one of these...

www.makergear.com

 

[Aresofthesea]

No, I'm certainly not trying to make a star trek transporter. Also, this won't be regular 3d printing it will be atom-level 3d printing.

 

[berkeman]

Also, this won't be regular 3d printing it will be atom-level 3d printing.

Interesting, a Google search for atomic 3D printing returns lots of hits. But as @anorlunda said, the time to assemble a macro object with atomic 3D printing is enormous...

https://www.google.com/search?q=atomic+3d+printing&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-b-1
https://3dprint.com/223622/atomic-level-3d-reconstructions/

 

[russ_watters]

No, I'm certainly not trying to make a star trek transporter.

You sure? What about your proposed device is different from a transporter?

In any case, while there are devices that can identify composition of substances:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_spectrometry
But not individual atoms. And most of the rest of what you describe is impossible or even just technobabble.

 

[anorlunda]

IBM created that image by pushing individual atoms around. Let's say that it took them one work day to do that. But an man-size robot contains about
1000000000000000000000000000 atoms.

I expect that research into 3D atomic printing is intended to print nanobots containing several dozen molecules, not man-size robots.

 

[DaveE]

Perhaps a mass spectrometer would help, you could theoretically grab an atom and then send it to the analyzer to identify it. Of course there are nearly insurmountable problems with this in practice.
Anyway, if you aren't familiar with them, it would be good to learn about instruments like this. You might also read about optical spectoscopy too.

 

[Aresofthesea]

Your machine needs to be very fast. For example, 1 kg of CO2, has 137 x 10^23 atoms. If you process 1000 atoms per second, it will take 10^15 years to assemble that kg (if I did the math right.)

I looked up what ^ meant. If I understood what the internet said, that means that 10^15 years is 100000000000000000 years. Is that right?

 

[berkeman]

I looked up what ^ meant.

$$10^{15} = 1,000,000,000,000,000$$