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The scientist Albert Einstein did not participate in the invention of the atomic bomb and nuclear energy. But he was the key to unlocking the development of nuclear energy and atomic bomb. In 1905, as part of his Special Theory of Relativity, he made a point that a large amount of energy could be released from a small amount of matter. This was development of the equation E = mc 2 (energy = mass times the speed of light squared).
The atomic bomb would clearly this equation worked. But Einstein wasnt thinking of nuclear bombs when he thought up E = mc 2. A nuclear chain reaction is basically a chain reaction of atoms and neutrons, when they bump they split into more, therefore it gets bigger and bigger with every split. Atoms consist of small dense positively charged cores called the nucleus, which is surrounded by negatively charged electrons. The nucleus is made up of electrically neutral particles called neutrons and positively charged particles called protons. The number of protons in the nucleus is equal to the number of electrons, making the atom electrically neutral.
The protons and neutrons in nuclei are held together by strong nuclear forces. In a nuclear fission reactor in a power plant, the radioactive element Uranium is used in a chain reaction. The fission of Uranium splits off two neutrons, which in turn hits two Uranium atoms. Two neutrons are split from each of the two Uranium atoms.
Each of these neutrons then go on to hit another Uranium atom. Each of those atoms is split releasing two neutrons, which go on and hit more Uranium atoms. The chain reaction continues on and on, getting bigger and bigger with each split. The things that slow down a chain reaction are the control rods. A control rod is made up of cadmium or boron, which absorb neutrons. If you insert the control rod between the uranium atoms, the amount of neutrons available to cause more splits is reduced.
In my project I Arrange the dominoes in a certain pattern. As shown, (). On another section of the table, I arranged two straight lines of dominos as shown, (). Then I knocked over the single domino in front on the first pattern. And they fell down like a nuclear chain reaction; the first domino stands for 2 atoms, the 2 nd row stands for 2 neutrons split from the 1 st atoms or the first domino, so when you hit down the 1 st domino it is like a fission of Uranium splitting off into off two neutrons goes on to hit another 2 atoms each of those atoms split releasing two neutrons, which go on and hit more Uranium atoms. It goes on and on if you have millions of dominoes.
Then I knocked over the first domino in one of the two straight lines and they all fell. For the second part I took a ruler and held it anywhere between the dominos lined up in the second straight line, then I used my other hand to knock over the first domino. The results were that only some dominos fell because the ruler stopped them from hitting other dominoes. It worked kind of like a control rod used to absorb neutrons in a Nuclear power plant.
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Research essay sample on Nuclear Chain Reaction E Mc 2
