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!
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 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.
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!
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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.
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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
https://youtube.com/watch?v=Ra7oqFqj9uU
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