Nuclear Phenomena Project- Erisa Golemi by Erisa Golemi

Nuclear Fission and Hiroshima

fpsgolemie051 — 2025-05-26 19:13:26 UTC

Image source: https://currentaffairs.adda247.com/hiroshima-day-facts-history-and-significance/

What Happened at Hiroshima?

fpsgolemie051 — 2025-05-27 23:58:31 UTC

On August sixth, 1945, during World War II, the United States dropped a 9,700 pound atomic bomb called “Little boy” on the city of Hiroshima, Japan, destroying 90% of the city. This was the first time a nuclear bomb had been used in warfare. The bomb was made of about 64 grams of highly enriched uranium-235. Within minutes of the explosion, 9 out of 10 people within half a mile of ground zero were killed, and in total, over 200,000 people died due to the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. The massive release of energy from the bombs allowed them to have devastating effects. The energy caused fires, destructive blast pressure, extreme radiation exposure, and high temperatures immediately upon the blast, further killing locals. The dropping of this uranium based bomb marks one of the most devastating events in human history.

Sources - https://www.osti.gov/opennet/manhattan-project-history/Events/1945/hiroshima.htm

https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/safety-and-security/non-proliferation/hiroshima-nagasaki-and-subsequent-weapons-testin

What is a Nuclear Reaction?

fpsgolemie051 — 2025-05-28 00:00:11 UTC

A nuclear reaction is a process that changes the structure of an atom’s nucleus by changing the number of neutrons and protons of one element and transforming it into another. The change of the number of protons is especially important because they dictate which element an atom is. Unlike chemical reactions, nuclear reactions take place inside the nucleus and change the number of neutrons and protons while chemical reactions do not, they only share and transfer electrons around the nucleus. There are two types of nuclear reactions: Nuclear fusion and nuclear fission. Both of these nuclear reactions are very powerful and release much more energy that chemical reactions do and they aren't as impacted by environmental factors such as temperature and pressure like chemical reactions are. Nuclear reactions not only release energy, but they emit radioactive decay particles as well. For example, when uranium-235–like used in the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima– goes through alpha decay, it emits helium nucleus and becomes thorium-231. This shows how nuclear reactions transform elements in the process of a reaction.

Sources - https://chem.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Introductory_Chemistry/Fundamentals_of_General_Organic_and_Biological_Chemistry_(LibreTexts)/11%3A_Nuclear_Chemistry/11.01%3A_Nuclear_Reactions

https://drive.google.com/file/d/12_OB-6ahMZxzemUjWWvPORLASCRPheST/view (Unit 2 textbook pages)

Lesson 8.5 -https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BA3CLxnGi0dbxj8r-xwCUAZWAEE63kKk/view

Picture credit - https://www.nagwa.com/en/videos/502190958497/

What Type of Nuclear reaction happened at Hiroshima?

fpsgolemie051 — 2025-05-28 00:00:54 UTC

The atomic bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima used nuclear fission to split the uranium-235 when it was hit by a neutron. The split of the nucleus released large amounts of energy, more neutrons, and radiation. The released neutrons of the reaction then struck other uranium atoms and caused a chain reaction of the bomb and multiplied its force in seconds. Unlike fusion, where particle combine, the fission reactants combined to make a destructive blast. This uncontrolled nuclear reaction release about 16,000 tons of energy and devastated the population in Hiroshima, killing over 200,000 due to the bomb.

Sources - https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/safety-and-security/non-proliferation/hiroshima-nagasaki-and-subsequent-weapons-testing

(textbook pages about nuclear fusion and fission) - https://drive.google.com/file/d/12_OB-6ahMZxzemUjWWvPORLASCRPheST/view

(image) -https://www.britannica.com/event/atomic-bombings-of-Hiroshima-and-Nagasaki

Nuclear Fission vs. Nuclear Fusion

fpsgolemie051 — 2025-05-28 00:01:51 UTC

Nuclear Fission

fpsgolemie051 — 2025-05-28 01:13:18 UTC

Nuclear fission is when a low-energy free floating neutron hits a larger, fissible atomic nucleus and splits it into two smaller nuclei. This creates a self-sustaining nuclear reaction that emits a large release of energy and even defies the typical law of conservation of matter by converting mass into energy to become a product of the fusion reaction. Nuclear fission releases a lot of energy, but it doesn't release as much as nuclear fusion. Nuclear fission is able to be used on Earth for weapons and nuclear power plants to generate power, unlike nuclear fusion, which is still too unsafe to be confidently used.

Source -

Unit 2 textbook pages - https://drive.google.com/file/d/12_OB-6ahMZxzemUjWWvPORLASCRPheST/view

Lesson 8.5 -https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BA3CLxnGi0dbxj8r-xwCUAZWAEE63kKk/view

Image- https://nrl.mit.edu/reactor/fission-process/

Nuclear Fusion

fpsgolemie051 — 2025-05-28 01:13:47 UTC

Nuclear fusion occurs when two or more atoms combine to cream a different atomic nucleus and subatomic particles. Like nuclear fission, some mass of the atoms is converted into energy, but unlike nuclear fission, fusion is able to absorb energy as well. To create a fusion reaction, the fused particles have to go through extreme heat and pressure to force them to fuse. The amount of energy needed to create a fusion reaction is the same as a fission reaction but a key difference is the amount of energy released. A nuclear fusion releases three to four times more energy than a fission reaction. Fusions naturally occur in stars like the sun, which constantly undergoes the fusion process until it creates too many larger elements and will collapse and die over billions of years. Using nuclear fusion on earth would be way more efficient than nuclear fission because it creates three to four times the amount of energy fission does, which means more power. Also, it would further cut the use of gas and coal to make energy. The best part is that nuclear fusion is actually considered to be safer than fission due to its short term danger of its waste.

Sources - Lesson 11 Article vhttps://docs.google.com/document/d/1CLmiNujq4Lc9iRReuuWTD6B8CX7toGh5pnR0qA_KuOU/edit?tab=t.0
Picture - https://www.atomicarchive.com/science/fusion/index.html

Aftermath of the bomb -

fpsgolemie051 — 2025-05-28 02:02:27 UTC

https://www.icanw.org/hiroshima_and_nagasaki_bombings

Effect on the population

fpsgolemie051 — 2025-05-28 02:03:45 UTC

https://www.aljazeera.com/gallery/2015/8/6/atomic-bomb-in-1945-a-look-back-at-the-destruction

fpsgolemie051 — 2025-05-28 02:05:12 UTC

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TFijosdjbU

fpsgolemie051 — 2025-05-28 02:06:38 UTC

https://www.reddit.com/r/Infographics/comments/u6darz/detonating_an_atomic_bomb_in_this_case_little_boy/