this post was submitted on 14 Jul 2025
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The energy from nuclear reactions can be astonishingly large (compared to, say, chemical reactions).
But atoms are really, really, really small.
people with good vision can probably see a single gold atom, I seem to remember that one useless fact about the smallest things we can see
Not even close, a gold atom is about 140 pm, while the diffraction limit for optical microscopes is around 200 nm, so 1000 Times bigger. And this does not mean that you could see a 200 nm object, only that you can differentiate 2 objects that are at least 200 nm apart. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diffraction-limited_system So no it is not possible to see atoms with visible light photons.
Parent didn't say resolve, they said see
you can't resolve stars but you can most certainly see them.
Light up a single atom enough and you can see it (unclear if this works with a dark adjusted naked eye or if a long exposure is required): https://www.newscientist.com/article/2161094-a-single-atom-is-visible-to-the-naked-eye-in-this-stunning-photo/