How long does an individual atom survive?

[Leo_Bloom]

Hello Friends,

I have resuscitated this thread because ‘I discovered, while reminiscing after years of absence from this estimable board, the following long thread which also deals with precisely this topic, from just a few years earlier, and its ins and outs complement what’s here wonderfully:

What is the ultimate fates, and in what order, for the atoms of my body?

I was pondering mortality the other day. Someone had asked me the usual “maybe there is a heaven; so how do you know where you’ll go when you die?” I told her I’d turn into a different arrangement of atoms, and that would be that. So I got to thinking, what would happen to my constituent atoms–in rough order of events per atom–over very long time scales until the Big Crunch, or whatever? Once I know the Dope, maybe I’ll ponder better.

I’m happy to be here again.

Leo