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HowtoSplitanAtom:6Steps(withPictures)wikiHow

HowtoSplitanAtom
TwoParts:

BasicAtomSplitting

AtomSplittingMethods

Atomscangainorloseenergywhenanelectrontransitsfromahighertoa
lowerorbitaroundthenucleus.Splittingthenucleusofanatom,however,
releasesconsiderablymoreenergythanthatofanelectronreturningtoa
lowerorbitfromahigherone,energythatcanbeputtodestructiveuseor
peacefulandproductivepurposes.Splittinganatomiscallednuclearfission,a
processthatwasdiscoveredin1938therepeatedsplittingofatomsinfission
iscalledachainreaction.[1]Whilemostpeopledonothavetheequipmentto
dothis,ifyou'veeverbeencurioushowit'sdone,here'sanoverview.

Part1of2:BasicAtomSplitting

Choosetherightisotope.Someelementsorisotopesofelementsundergo
radioactivedecay.Notallisotopesarecreatedequalwhenitcomestobeing

readilysplit,however.Themostcommonisotopeofuraniumhasanatomicweightof
238,consistingof92protonsand146neutrons,butitsnucleitendtoabsorbneutrons
withoutbeingsplitintosmallernucleiofotherelements.Anisotopeofuraniumwiththree
fewerneutrons,235U,canmuchmorereadilybesplitapartthancan238Usuchan
isotopeiscalledfissile.
Someisotopescanbesplittooreadily,sofastthatacontinuousfissionreaction
cantbemaintained.Thisiscalledspontaneousfissiontheplutoniumisotope
240Puissuchanisotope,unliketheisotope239Puwithitsslowerfissionrate.

Getenoughoftheisotopetoensurefissionwillcontinueafterthefirstatom
issplit.Thisrequireshavingacertainminimumamountofthefissileisotopeto

makethefissionreactionsustainablethisiscalledcriticalmass.Achievingcriticalmass
requiresenoughofsourcematerialfortheisotopetoincreasethechancesoffission
occurring.
Sometimes,itisnecessarytoincreasetherelativeamountoffissileisotopeina
sampletoensureasustainablefissionreactionoccurs.Thisiscalled
enrichment,andtherehavebeenseveralmethodsemployedtoenricha
sample.(Forthemethodsusedtoenrichuranium,seetherelatedwikiHow
HowtoEnrichUranium.)

Bombardthenucleiofthefissileisotopewithsubatomicparticles.Asingle
subatomicparticlecanstrikeanatomof235U,splittingitintotwoseparateatomsof

otherelementsandreleasingthreeneutrons.Threetypesofsubatomicparticlesare
commonlyused.
Protons.Thesesubatomicparticleshavemassandapositivecharge.The
numberofprotonsinanatomdetermineswhatelementtheatomis.
Neutrons.Thesesubatomicparticleshavethemassasprotonsbutnocharge.
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Alphaparticles.Theseparticlesarethenucleiofheliumatoms,shornoftheir
orbitingelectrons.Theyconsistoftwoprotonsandtwoneutrons.

Part2of2:AtomSplittingMethods

Fireoneatomicnucleusofthesameisotopeatanother.Becauseloose
subatomicparticlesaredifficulttocomeby,itsoftennecessarytoforcethemout

oftheatomstheyrepartof.Onemethodofdoingthisisfiringatomsofagivenisotope
againstotheratomsofthatsameisotope.
Thismethodwasusedtocreatethe235UatomicbombdroppedonHiroshima.
Agunlikeweaponwithauraniumcorefired235Uatomsatanotherpieceof
235Ubearingmaterialfastenoughtohavetheneutronstheyreleasednaturally

slamintothenucleiofother235Uatomsandbreakthemapart.Theneutrons
releasedwhentheatomssplitwould,inturn,strikeandsplitother235Uatoms.
[2]

Squeezetheatomicsampletight,bringingfissileatomsclosertogether.
Sometimes,atomsdecaytoofastontheirowntobefiredatoneanother.Inthis

case,bringingtheatomsclosertogetherincreasesthechanceofreleasedsubatomic
particlesstrikingandsplittingotheratoms.
Thismethodwasusedtocreatethe239PuatomicbombdroppedonNagasaki.
Conventionalexplosivesringedamassofplutoniumwhendetonated,they
pushedtheplutoniummasstogether,bringingthe239Puatomscloseenough
togetherthattheneutronstheyreleasedwouldcontinuouslystrikeandsplit
other239Puatoms.[3]

Exciteelectronswithlaserlight.Withthedevelopmentofpetawatt(1015watt)
lasers,itisnowpossibletosplitatomsbyusinglaserlighttoexciteelectronsin

metalsencasingaradioactivesubstance.
Ina2000testattheLawrenceLivermoreLaboratoryinCalifornia,uraniumwas
encasedingoldandheldinacopperholder.A260joulepulseofinfraredlaser
lightstruckthecaseandholder,excitingtheirelectrons.Whentheelectrons
returnedtotheirregularorbits,theyreleasedhighenergygammaradiationthat
penetratedthegoldandcoppernuclei,liberatingneutronsthattoreintothe
atomsoftheuraniumunderneaththegold,splittingthem.(Boththegoldand
copperbecameradioactiveasaresultoftheexperiment.)
AsimilartestwasperformedattheRutherfordAppletonLaboratoryinGreat
Britain,usinga50terawatt(5x1012watt)lasertargetingatantalumslabwith
variousmaterialsputbehindit:potassium,silver,zinc,anduranium.All
successfullyhadaportionoftheiratomssplit.[4]

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Warnings
Inadditiontocertainisotopesfissiontoosoon,itispossiblefora
smallerexplosiontoblowthefissionmaterialapartbeforeitreaches
thedesiredlevelofsustainedreaction.[5]
Aswithanyequipment,followtherequiredsafetyprocedures,and
don'tdoanythingthatseemsrisky.Besafe.

SourcesandCitations
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chain_reaction
2. http://www.atomicheritage.org/history/sciencebehindatombomb
3. http://www.atomicheritage.org/history/sciencebehindatombomb
4. http://physics.aps.org/story/v5/st3
5. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_chain_reaction

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