My reflection on Uranium

Hi everybody!

I've chosen to research on Uranium which is the heaviest naturally occurring element known thus far! Just some basic facts about Uranium: it has a few isotopes namely U-238, U-235 and U-234; all the isotopes are radioactive and emits ionizing radiation which can be hazardous to our health!

Think most of us can still remember vividly the video clip on the bombing of Hiroshima that Mr Johnny Joseph showed us in our history class. I did a search on it and found that the bombing was actually caused by the detonation of a uranium fission bomb. It was the first atomic bomb ever used as a weapon. We can see how powerful an element like the Uranium can be. Unfortunately, it caused immense devastation and the loss of many lives.

Let's take a look at how the uranium fission bomb actually works.

When a single free neutron strikes the nucleus of uranium, it knocks two or three more neutrons free. Energy is released when those neutrons split off from the nucleus, and the newly released neutrons strike other uranium nuclei, splitting them in the same way, releasing more energy and more neutrons. This chain reaction spreads almost instantaneously. It is this large amount of energy released by the splitting of uranium nuclei that is destructive.

I've inserted an image of the nuclear fission process to make things clearer.



Hence, we can see that the concept of atomic structure is actually very relevant to our life!=)

References:

1. The Atomic Bomb (“A-Bomb”). Retrieved September 17, 2008. http://www.cnduk.org/pages/ed/atom.htm
   
2. Uranium. Retrieved September 17, 2008. http://www.ccsa.asn.au/nuclearsa/a1.html
3. Nuclear Weapons. Retrieved September 17, 2008. http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/nucene/bomb.html

My learning difficulties

I have problem visualizing the atoms and particles in an atom when i'm studying for this topic. I also find it difficult to calculate the number of neutrons of an ion; often mistaking that number of neutrons = mass number - number of electrons.

How I overcome

I visited the website recommended by Ms Bonnie which shows very clear pictures of how the inside of an atom looks like. I spent some time understanding what's the differences between an ion and an atom.

Posted by,
Kelvin