A single atom doesn’t have that much energy. A phone burns several worth an hour.
I think this is my new favorite comic strip.
It’s just so good. It hits all my buttons. 10/10
I’m guessing it’s trying to make fun of fissile atoms. But I see two problems with this.
- It’s not specified what type of atom it is. Most atoms in our surroundings do not release energy when split, but instead requires a, comparatively, large amount at energy to undergo fission.
- Even if they found a uranium-235 atom, one the most fissile elements found in the earths crust, the energy released by a single atom is miniscule. You need a huge amount of atoms to make anything akin to a bomb.
And yes, I’ve been hugely popular at both parties I’ve attended.
both parties
Mr. King of the castle over here being invited to two parties, no need to brag.
Probably so cool he got invited to, and attended, both on the same day. Fuck this guy.
And yes, I’ve been hugely popular at both parties I’ve attended.
Well obviously! Everybody here can see you have at LEAST two shit-hot science facts just ready to go when the house ain’t bumping.
Not all heroes wear capes. Some stick with lab coats.
- You need the named “critical mass” for this to happen.
Critical mass means that a chain reaction can be sustained by emissions from prior nucleus splits. When splitting an atom with external force, it is not a concern because all (1) fissile atoms around will split at once.
Plus, it wouldn’t actually come to the splitting because the real owner of the atom would object.
yeah, people who own atoms are real stingy with them
Its a c section comic, they aren’t known for scientific accuracy…
Hello T. Folse Nuclear
Seriously what good would half a baby be
It’d be way way grosser than a regular baby for one thing
pies?
Would splitting one single atom in a non dense environment start a nuclear chain reaction? And why do I ask such questions when it’s simply a cartoon to snicker about?
no, there are lots of atoms splitting inside your body every second.
a single U-235 atom’s fission, releasing ~200MeV, (~30 picojoules), in ideal circumstances could maybe nudge a very small fine grain of sand (~ micrograms) enough to see movement (small fraction of a millimetre) under a microscope .
It takes months of refining to make nuclear fuel that’s suitable for sustaining a chain reaction.
it’s an interesting question, I’m glad I did the research checking that the orders of magnitude match!
There are no atoms splitting inside the body. Nuclear decay happens, but not nuclear fission.
Alpha and beta decay are types of fission.
further, if you only want to look at fissions with similarly-sized daughter products, there are several micrograms of fissile atoms in each of us, so random fissions are indeed constantly happening.
I understand your confusion, since particles are ejected from the nucleus in both processes. They’re similar but not the same. Alpha decay may seem to be a bit of a grey zone, since the atom expels a helium nucleus, so the atom is “split” into two very asymmetric parts, but it is generally not considered a fission process. Alpha decay and spontaneous fission are actually competing processes.
And spontaneous fission is possible, but it’s extremely rare. For your example of Uranium, which, in nature, is overwhelmingly (99.3%) U-238:
Spontaneous fission is extraordinarily rare on a per-atom basis. Uranium-238, the most common uranium isotope on Earth, has a spontaneous fission half-life of about 8.4 × 10¹⁵ years.
So with the uranium in your example there is a non-zero chance of spontaneous fission occurring, but it’s very unlikely, with alpha decay being about 2 million times more likely to occur. So, alpha decay will be the overwhelmingly dominant process, leaving virtually no room for spontaneous fission over the short span of a human lifetime.
Beta decay is something else entirely where no protons or neutrons leave the core, so there is no fission to speak of.
EDIT: I see the Lemmy downvote bandwagon has arrived, but I have to ask:
A nuclear chain reaction can only be sustained through very specific molecules that have the ability to undergo fission and release neutrons while they do. Those released neutrons then need to interact with new fissile molecules that surround the first one.
The chain reaction also requires that there are enough of those molecules and that they are packed closely enough together, so the reaction doesn’t fizzle (no pun intended) out.
That only happens in an environment like enriched uranium, which is uranium with an artificially high percentage of U-235 that doesn’t occur naturally –at least not anymore.
Was that not Albert Einstein’s fear regarding the bomb? That Earth’s atmosphere would simply ignite when exposed to the initial reaction?
I think our sitting here, snickering at a comic about a biblical nuclear explosion, is proof that it wouldn’t happen.
i believe there was some early speculation that the unprecedented temperature of the Trinity test might ignite the atmosphere, somehow making the nitrogen burn, but that would be a chemical reaction, not a nuclear reaction.
I thought he was trying to add bubbles to beer
Is this based off an allegory?
Yeah, it’s biblical.
The abbreviated story is that two women were both claiming a baby as theirs, and King Solomon had to make a judgement. He suggested the only fair way was to split the baby in two, knowing the real mom would give up her claim to prevent that from happening. One woman said split it, the real mom retracted her claim, and Solomon gave the baby to the real mom.
The joke here is that they split an atom instead of a baby.
Weirdly enough this is also Elder Scrolls lore somehow
You haven’t experienced this lore until you heard it in the original Klingon.
It’s the only way to be sure.
Is this for sure not ai?
There’s an author attribution and website right on it, you’re free to look into it if you’re concerned.
Impressive AI for 2018.
