Scientists Lise Meitner and Otto Frisch bombarded Uranium with neutrons in hopes of creating a new element.
They didn’t get the new element they wanted, but instead found… Krypton and Barium? It was confusing at first, but there’s was a reason.
Add up the atomic numbers of Krypton and Barium (36 and 56) and you get 92, the atomic number of Uranium. That could only mean one thing: The Uranium atom split into Krypton and Barium.
They had split the atom! Otto Frisch won a Nobel Prize for this revolutionary discovery.
It opened so many worlds, like harnessing the energy from splitting the atom’s nucleus!
It also opened a horrible world of warfare: Nuclear bombs.
Fission
Splitting atoms is known as fission. A neutron is shot at the nucleus of the atom, which is then split into 2 nuclei. Finally, those 2 nuclei become their own atoms.
One thing to note is that left over neutrons from split atoms can hit other atoms, causing a chain reaction. This creates massive amounts of energy.
Manhattan Project
After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, it was time for the US to enter WWII. The Manhattan Project was a secret program, which its goal was to create nuclear weapons.
They would use Uranium and Plutonium for the bombs, perfect for creating that chain reaction of energy that would soon become an explosion.
The work was split between 3 locations:
- Hanford, Washington, provided the Plutonium.
- Oak Ridge, Tennessee, provided the Uranium.
- Los Alamos, New Mexico, was where the bombs would be built.
August 6, 1945. The day “Little Boy,” an infamous nuclear bomb, dropped on Hiroshima.
August 9, 1945. “Fat Man,” another nuclear bomb, dropped on Nagasaki.
Around 100,000 people died due to the explosions. Many more died later due to injuries and radiation. Soon after, Japan had surrendered.
For Good
While the huge amount of energy fission creates can be used for weapons, we can also harness this energy.
The first nuclear power plants were the EBR-1 by the US and the Obnisk Nuclear Power Plant by the Soviet Union. Both showed that nuclear power was feasable, and it led towards clearner energy sources.
Fission creates a lot of heat, which is used to heat up water to create steam, spin a turbine, and produce electicity.
The main problem with nuclear energy is the waste it creates. This radioactive waste is the result of fission.
Today’s World
Fission is mostly known for being used in nuclear power plants and weapons: Good and bad.
Today, nuclear energy is being used more often, especially in European countries. It’s one of the popular options when switching to cleaner energy sources and could play a major role in solving climate change.
Today, nuclear weapons are still being held by some countries. The looming threat of bombs, while not as bad as in the past, are still here.
Which one should we pick for our future?
RELATED STORIES:
https://www.nps.gov/mapr/learn/manhattan-project.htm
https://uewhealth.com/accidentally-discovering-nuclear-fission/
TAKE ACTION:
- Ban nuclear weapons in today’s world: https://www.change.org/t/nuclear-weapons-en-us
