developed to produce both uranium and plutonium, each of which would provide
the critical material for the atomic bombs develoned hy the United States.
The process of the splitting of the atom, or "fission," is nearly
impossible to imagine,
smell,
understand, or explain.
touch, or hear because they are so small,
Atoms, which we cannot see,
have a fantastic amount of
potential energy which, when released in the form of an explosion of a single
bomb,
is canable of flattening buildings and scorching earth over hundreds
of square miles;
of killing and maiming millions of people immediately,
and
more millions in the near and distant future.
In effect, however,
things:
the basic pover of the atomic bomb comes from two
the force which binds the atom together and a chain reaction,
though atoms are very tiny,
the amount of force binding the atom and its
Parts together is very great for its size,
fissionable atom,
Even
the atom may split,
When a neutron strikes a
and following the splitting, may
produce additional neutrons.
In turn,
these neutrons may produce splitting
of nearly fissionable atoms.
A chain reaction is said to exist when the
splitting of one atom produces on an average the splitting of more than one
nearby atom.
An example of a "chain reaction" is where a ball is tossed
into a room in which the floor is covered by mouse traps set with ping pong
balls,
The ball trips one mouse trap, which in turn sets off its neighbors,
which in turn set off still more, until all have been sprung,
When this chain
reaction is slow and
controlled, it can be used for electricity-generating
atomic power plants.
The reaction heats water and turns. it into steam, which
drives turbines connected to generators, which produce electricity,
When, however,
explosion,
this reaction is
“uncontrolled,” it results in an atomic
The tremendous relative energy contained by fissionable material
as opposed to regular sources of energy might be illustrated this way:
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