Talk:Dilithium
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Was dilithium ever definitely stated to be an element? It would be a lot easier to just call it a substance.
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[edit] Dilithium is a Molecule
An element means a single atom, a molecule is a substance formed from more than one atom. If a "particle" of dilithium is made from 2(5)6 dilithlum 2(:)l diallosilicate 1:9:1 heptoferranide then it is not an element, it is a molecule, because it contains more than one atom (and the atoms are from more than one element, for that matter). — User:4.178.51.68 (Sig added by THOR)
- Well, for that matter, where did 2(5)6 dilithlum 2(:)l diallo silicate 1:9:1 heptoferranide come from? Does anybody have a canon reference? From VOY: "Threshold" I got the impression that dilithium was an element; whereas the name itself suggests a molecule. — THOR 17:51, 14 Apr 2005 (EDT)
- Dilitihum was listed as an element in the periodic table chart seen in "rascals." this was background only, but it is still possible that crystallized dilithium is a molecule made up of dilithium in a lattice structure with other elements (iron and silicon seem to be indicated by that formula)
- Is that a crystal formula, and does it even have a canon source? -- Captain Mike K. Barteltalk
- I found the source. The formula is from the 1995 book The physics of Star Trek by NASA physicist Lawrence Krauss. It is not a canon source. For more information visit this article. —Shawn81 07:40, 25 Aug 2005 (UTC)
According to Wikipedia a crystal is simply, "A crystal is a solid in which the constituent atoms, molecules, or ions are packed in a regularly ordered, repeating pattern extending in all three spatial dimensions.". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crystal --TOSrules 05:56, 17 May 2005 (UTC)
Moved from page: "Dilithium formula : Li2Te". What's the source of this? Moved it here, cause it sounds like someone took lithium and put a 2 on it. -AJHalliwell 02:39, 16 Jun 2005 (UTC)
- Hmm... That formula would imply that "dilithium" is short for dilithium telluride (Li2Te). The formla would be reasonable, as tellurium has a valence of two; lithium, having a valence of one, would bond to it in pairs. —Shawn81 07:28, 25 Aug 2005 (UTC)
2(5)6 dilithlum 2(:)l diallosilicate 1:9:1 heptoferranide, I remember seeing something similar to this in the Star Trek TNG technical manual. Wish I still had one lying around... anyway the point of a fictional formula like this is to tell readers that dilithium crystals in star trek are not simple crystals made of lithium atoms. They are made of various fictional substances in some kind of organization and proportion. The individual atoms should all be on the real periodic table, but the crystal structure and embedded molecules are all fictional. Apart from the comment that dilithium is on the periodic table in "Rascals"(TNG), I would say the dilithium is not an element or a molecule, it is a crystaline substance with more than just lithium. 70.177.40.139 23:50, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
Star Trek The Next Generation Technical Manual - THE ROLE OF DILITHIUM - PAGE 60 --152.163.100.8 04:05, 13 May 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Removed info
- In February 2006 a group of Engineers at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute used two oppositely charged centimeter-sized lithium tantalate crystals, commonly called a "dilithium crystal" in many press reports, as a key element in creating a desktop sized fusion device that operates at room temperature.
While the above background info is interesting, I'm not sure how it relates to the dilithium of the main article, aside from the apparent fact that several press reports called it dilithium. I don't think that's enough to qualify it as background info, since it doesn't seem to have anything to do with the dilithium described in the article. --From Andoria with Love 04:33, 11 March 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Dilithium mentioned in Minerology Database
webmineral.com has a page about Dilithium
in which they state:
Chemical Formula: Li2Te Composition: Molecular Weight = 141.48 gm Lithium 9.81 % Li Tellurium 90.19 % Te ______ 100.00 % Empirical Formula: Li2Te Environment: Silica-poor planetesimals which did not undergo significant parent-body metamorphism during formation. IMA Status: Not Approved IMA Locality: Interplanetary asteroids. Link to MinDat.org Location Data. Name Origin: Named after it's composition. Synonym: Go Juice Warp Factor 9
- Seeing as Dilithium is described as an element in Trek separate and not related to Lithium, and therefore not a compound or mineral of Lithium, that information is fanon. --OuroborosCobra talk 19:21, 25 April 2007 (UTC)
[edit] The Quartz angle
I can't remember which of the Star Trek novels (I believe its a TOS novel -- How Much for Just the Planet perhaps -- but I'm not sure) mentioned the history of dilithium, but it discussed amoung other things that dilithium's quartz-like appearance was because it was indistinguishable from quartz in 4-dimensional spacetime (3-D space) but not in 5-D spacetime. It refers to earth "quartz" being found to be some fraction of dilithium (15% perhaps? I read this years ago). If anybody knows which novel this is and the specifics of the history, it might be worth an Apocryptia subsection in the article.
[edit] Background info is not true
However, lithium, being a metal, should not be able to exist in this state, as metals cannot form diatomic molecules.
It's not true. source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dilithium_(real)
[edit] Theoretical information on Dilithium
THE ROLE OF DILITHIUM
The key element in the efficient use of M/A reactions is the dilithium crystal. This is the only material known to Federation Science to be nonreactive with antimatter when subjected to a high-frequency electromagnetic(EM) field in the megawatt
range, rendering it “porous” to antihydrogen.
Dilithium permits the antihydrogen to pass directly through its crystalline structure without actually touching it, owing to the
field dynamo effect created in the added iron atoms. The longer form of the crystal name is the forced-matrix formula 2<5>6 dilithium 2<:>1 diallosilicate 1:9:1 heptoferranide.
Dilithium formula 2<5>6 dilithium 2<:>1 diallosilicate = 2 is less than 5 is greater than 6 dilithium 2 is less than such that is greater than 1 diallosilicate.
See also: Catalyst and Control rod
According to Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual - pgs. 61, "...the normal operating temperature at the reaction site is 
."
However, in the book:
SCHAUM'S SOLVED PROBLEMS SERIES
3000 SOLVED PROBLEMS IN PHYSICS No. 20.54, it states the following:
A nuclear fusion reaction will occur in a gas of deuterium when the nuclei have an avarage kinetic energy of at least 0.72 MeV. What is the temperature required for nuclear fusion to occur with deuterium? (
)
Answer: 
Therefore, the dilithium crystal itself must be able to withstand an operating temperature of 5,570,000,000 kelvin or 10,025,999,540.33 degrees fahrenheit.
--Compaq 15:18, 5 January 2008 (UTC)