I mean, how do you control a single neutron, sounds insane.
205514
basically uranium is a material with both neutrons and protons which that are packed in high explosive shape charged spheres the shape charge blows force inward  collasping on the sphere of uranium and causes the neutrons and protons to collide resulting in the mushroom
452323
Yeah, it's a particle accelerator.  A change in a magnetic field can make an electrically charged particle move, so a cyclotron works by making magnetic fluxes so fast that electrons and such will accelerate to really high speeds.\n\nOften the goal of making it reach high speeds is to slam it into another particle, in order to make rare or unstable isotopes or elements (like plutonium, which was first synthesized in this manner in Berkeley) or in order to smash small particles into even smaller particles, to see what the component particles are and how they behave.\n\nThe biggest one: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRIUMF
634556
Yes, it's done all the time in nuclear reactors. \n\nIt's done by shooting neutrons at atoms of Uranium-235, which is "fissionable", meaning it's a kind of atom that can be split. (Other kinds of atoms can't be split, at least not easily).\n\nThey don't pick the individual atoms they want to split; they just put a bunch of U-235 near a neutron source, and wait. Nor do they see the atoms. They determine it has been split by analyzing the uranium before and after it's been bombarded. Afterwards, there are trances of other elements that weren't there before. So that's how they know.
412162
Absolutely.  In fact, there have been several different approaches, including zapping little pellets with a monster laser (NOVA), which are then immersed in water.  These minuscule nuclear bombs fuse and release their energy into the water, creating steam and turning turbines.\n\nThe most promising method, however, is a fusion reactor; a magnetic bottle which traps plasma.  Fusion occurs when the electromagnetic forces of nuclei (which are positive) are overcome.  In order to get nuclei, atoms are injected into the reactor and brought to immense temperatures.  The individual atoms, which are neutral, become so energetic that the electrons are stripped from the nuclei, creating plasma.  Plasma is simply free electrons (negatively charged and unbounded to a nucleus) and the positively charged nuclei.  Because these are positively and negatively charged, the plasma is contained within magnetic field lines.  This is the proverbial "magnetic bottle".\n\nThe nuclei smash into each other, creating helium nuclei and excess neutrons.  These neutrons are EXTREMELY energetic (14 MeV), and are neutrally charged.  Therefore, these neutrons zip right past the magnetic field lines.  The charged plasma remains, continuing the fusion process; and the neutrons are captured in water, where elastic collisions with H2O molecules transfers the energy from the neutrons to the water, heating the water, turning it to steam, and turning the turbines.\n\nThere are a couple of major problems.  First, the sun is very big and very hot.  Getting similar temperatures and pressures on Earth is next to impossible.  Although the energy released is several orders of magnitude greater than the energy put in when the process is going a full capacity, getting it started has been very difficult.  However, through TFTR and the new ITER, already the plasmas have generated more energy than were used to start the process.  This is a big step.\n\nAlso, the magnetic bottle and the plasma can experience some strange instabilities and wave functions.  Any time a harmonic resonance-like phenomena occurs, the fusion can break down, the plasma cools, and the process slows or stops.  As the test reactors continue to gather data, these phenomena are better understood.\n\nFinally, those 14 MeV neutron zip through the magnetic bottle and the water, and interact with impurities in the concrete and building materials, creating radioactive waste.  This waste is not insignificant - huge amounts of concrete becomes low-level waste.  Low level waste is NOT a measure of how dangerous it is - this stuff can be very dangerous - but it will only remain dangerous for about 100 years or so.  It's not the stuff that remains deadly for thousands of years.\n\nSo solve the instabilities, be able to sustain a plasma and reaction long enough to become self-sustaining, and be prepared for the low level waste, and fusion will become an almost unlimited energy supply.
105367
Kids bits in brackets :)\n\nAn atom bomb works by firing a proton/neutron (a little part of an atom) at a mass of uranium (nuclear material) the proton goes into the uranium and eventually hits and joins with an atom of uranium, that atom is now unstable (a bit like too many people on a ladder) so to make it self stable it loses some protons (some people fall off the ladder), usually 2 or 3 (that's the bit they call fission), these fire off and hit other atoms repeating the process in a chain. if the amount of uranium is small then a lot of the protons fly out of the uranium and do nothing, however if there is enough uranium the protons are contained in the mass and break up even more atoms, leading to a catastrophic chain reaction (KaaaaBOOOOOOM)!!! \n\n***Try shouting the last part it should get a few laughs :)\n\nPS. because the uranium lost more protons than was originally put into it as extra, it is no longer standard uranium, this is called a uranium isotope.\n\nbrubeck_take5 yeah I remember the ping-pong ball video... really cool, wouldn't mind seeing that again... gonna see if I can find it... let you know :)\n\nhere goes... thing the slow motion one is the best\n\nhttp://www.ap.stmarys.ca/demos/content/modern/mousetrap_reactor/trap_sideview_slow_high.wmv\n\nbut if you want to look at them all\n\nhttp://www.ap.stmarys.ca/demos/content/modern/mousetrap_reactor/mousetrap_reactor.html
667790
You can ask atomic research agency. they are using this type of software.
377652
This was an experimemt the US Navy conducted.  They attempted to "Cloak" a destroyer using magnetism.  How successful it was I am not sure.  There are several myths surrounding the experiment which depict gross outcomes of the experiment.
190471
To get a nuclear explosion, you need to have an uncontrolled  chain reaction: whenever an atom fissions (and emits neutrons), other fissionable atoms have to be available to capture the neutrons and also fission themselves. The chain reaction occur because one atom fissions, emitting two neutrons; these two cause two more atoms to fission, emitting four, then eight, sixteen, thiry-two ...\n\nCritical mass is also necessary to have enough fissionable material around that enough of the neutrons are absorbed to continue the chain reaction. \n\nBarium-133 decays by electron capture (one of the protons in the nucleus actually combines with  an inner-shell electron to form a neutron. This emits a X-ray instead of a neutron, so it's not suitable for building a bomb. Gotta have those neutrons, and more than one of them.
95100
It would take a lot more energy than is generated in one fusion bomb.  Watch the movie 2010: The Year We Make Contact.
18867
You are thinking of a "neutron bomb" which commences with an explosion perhaps well above the target, minimizing physical damage.  The real damage is caused by the flood of neutrons that are released.  A neutron has mass but no charge and is very penetrating since it can not be repelled by protons or electrons.  However, the neutron may move at extremely high speed and do its damage upon impact with matter.  Lead is a good shield against gamma rays, similar to X-rays but more penetrating) because the electromagnetic photons are arrested by the cloud of electrons surrounding heavy lead atoms.  But neutrons pass right through like baseballs thrown past a neat row of trucks.  In effect, it takes a baseball to stop a baseball.  Neutrons are stopped by hydrogen atoms consisting of one proton and one electron because the neutron weighs only sligtly more than a proton.  Throw a speeding baseball at a suspended baseball and they will both change motion, one speeding up and one slowing down.  People are composed of much hydrogen locked up in water (H20) and hydro-carbons.  When a neutron strikes, the hydrogen is energized and ionized with its electron stripped away and that can cause tissue damage.  The neutrons can travel right through the walls of a house and find the people.  All the more reason for peace on earth and good will towards men (and innocent women and children too!).
334805
haha... That reminded me of man in black, they have a similar concept there, especially at the end with the two aliens. I'm not sure what you mean by splitting the world, but I get the idea. I think there's some chance to that being true, but if atom is the very basic matter that everything is made out of, and it has only 3 diff. sub-particles then it would be sort of hard to have a whole universe contained in there? In that case what does the proton, neutron, and electron play in the whole thing?
282620
one... but I can see how you're confused... it's kind of like those old transformer toys, where you could put three transformers together to make one big transformer... they all three are one God, but are also independent... it's odd
164429
as was mentioned earlier, neutrons are quantum mechanical objects, so you can't specify a shape for them.  you can specify a radius within which it is 99.9% certain that a neutron lies.  the accepted size of the radius of a neutron is roughly 10^(-15) m.  a neutron consists of one up quark (charge = 2/3) and two down quarks (charge = -1/3).  inside atomic nuclei, they are mostly stable, but neutrons that are floating around by themselves have a half-life of about 10 minutes.  thus, in a sample of 100 free neutrons, 50 of them will change to a proton, an electron and an antineutrino within 10 minutes.  these other particles are NOT there to begin with -- the weak interaction allows the conversion to take place.  all neutrons are identical.  i am not sure if there is an electric dipole (or higher) moment among the constituent quarks.  neutrons do possess a magnetic dipole moment, though.  i am also not certain of the nature of the strong force between two neutrons or between a neutron and a proton in a nucleus -- whether there are only particles to exchange the strong force or whether quarks can be transferred from one particle to another.  i know that this interaction can only bind them on a size roughly equal to the size of the neutron or proton themselves, so it is extremely short range.
629677
if u bombard the nucleus of one element with protons or neutrons the elements can change so they are basically interchangeable while cells are at much more complex level of differentiation
633255
Suppose you are collecting Uranium 238, because you want to build a better bomb.  If you were stupid enough to pile it in one place, eventually you would have enough to start a self-sustaining reaction and it would melt down.\n\nThe amount required to maintain a self-sustaining reaction is called "critical mass".\n\nFission is when you split heavy atoms, uranium or plutonium, to make lighter atoms.\n\nFusion is when you combine very light atoms, deuterium I believe, to make something heaver, like helium.  It takes a lot of evergy to get a fusion reaction going.
31287
No... short answer, but it can be controlled.
36934
Lots and lots of atoms fusing to make bigger and bigger atoms.