R
rogerinnh
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What is it about Uranium and similar heavy elements that makes them "splittable", and therefor useful for generating nuclear energy, unlike lighter elements?
Larger atoms also tend to be unstable, this is a rough generalzation I know. Isotopes of atoms also tend to make the atoms unstable, such as carbon 14 and cobalt 60. Uranium 235 and plutonium239 are unstable atoms and decay through a rather complicated decay chain ending in lead. Uranium and plutonium emit radiation in the form of alpha particles as they decay, which is esentially a helium nucleus which is ejected from the U and PU nucleus at a sizable percentage of the speed of light. The unique thing about U235 and PU239 is the addition of 1 neutron to the neucleus makes the atom so unstable that it splits instantly upon absorbing the neutron.rogerinnh":3cssxqws said:What is it about Uranium and similar heavy elements that makes them "splittable", and therefor useful for generating nuclear energy, unlike lighter elements?
Where do the alpha particles get all that energy from? Is it simply pushed away from the neucleus by the electromagnetic force or is there another force at play here? How about neutrons? Which force hurls them away from the neucleus seeing that a neutron doesn't have a charge?Uranium and plutonium emit radiation in the form of alpha particles as they decay, which is esentially a helium nucleus which is ejected from the U and PU nucleus at a sizable percentage of the speed of light. The unique thing about U235 and PU239 is the addition of 1 neutron to the neucleus makes the atom so unstable that it splits instantly upon absorbing the neutron.