Happy Mole Day!

[Warren]

It can vary, I've read that it's 50g for critical mass. Critical mass means that when a U-235 atom undergoes fission, only 1 of the released neutrons will hit another atom, then only 1 neutron from that atom will hit another, making a constant linear chain reaction. This is used in power plants because it's self-fueling and controllable (actually, they use slightly supercritical, because it's easier to stop the reaction than start it). 50kg are needed for supercritical mass because you want the explosion to be uniform, all the atoms must undergo fission at around the same time. If there's too much uranium, then the explosion will get ahead of the chain reaction, and energy will be lost, if there's too little, then the reaction will be too slow and will not produce the maximum energy wanted. 50kg will explode in 1 microsecond, that's the best for the 1940s, but today we have better ones, that are more than (not sure on this) 5 times more powerful. I'm not sure if 100kg versus 50kg is really any different in the total time it takes to explode, I mean, LOL, there hasn't been that many tests of it...

Yes, we're talking about pure U-235 (it's really impossible to get PURE, so when we say pure, we main at least 90%). Getting pure U-235 is hard, you have to go through enrichment, where you take uranium hexafluoride (UF6), and pass it through thousands of filters at a constant speed. Because U-235 is lighter than U-238, it will eventually separate, and that's how you get it.

[James S]

The percent of pure uranium in a sample is 0.7%

[Warren]

Yes, in nature, U-238 (not fissionable) is 99.27%, and U-235 (the good stuff) is 0.725%. Then there's U-234 at 0.0055%. Just hold on a while, I'm working on my report and will post it here when I'm done. I've finished the origin of name, discoverers, initial use of element (in glass), its period table location and significance, and facts about it, like density, neutron count, isotopes, radioactivity and alpha rays, boiling/melting points, color, electronegativity, ionization energies, and that's it so far, and it's over 4 pages. I STILL have to do bonds, electron configuration, heat of fusion/vaporization, specific heat (Cp), how it warms the Earth's interior, mining uranium, ISL (type of mining), cost, country relations about selling it, who sells the most, refinement of uranium ore, enrichment, disposibility, recyclable of depleted U-238, nuclear bombs, Hiroshima and "Little Man", details of nuclear fission, nuclear energy, details about nuclear power plants and they work, and other stuff, so yeah, it'll be long! I estimate 10 pages, but now that I think about it, maybe longer...

[damian]

Too bad i'm not doing this at 6:02 AM. Oh well, there's always 6:02 PM.

Any ideas for celebrations?

[James S]

Mix random chemicals found under the kitchen sink, then consume them in mass amounts.

[damian]

[Jadam]

[Jadam]

[James S]

[Warren]

People, people, just wait for my report to be done, it'll be done (or at least it better be!) tomorrow some time. It'll explain everything, from nuclear fission in the atomic bomb, to electronegativity, to vaseline glass! And yes, the atomic bomb used that kind of system, it'll be fully explained in my report.

Antigravity is both physics and chemistry. It's not impossible, gravity is (this is the theory so far) caused by subatomic particles called gravitons. Antigravity would be the opposed of gravitons, or antigravitons. We don't know what would happen to an antigraviton in a matter world, but if it doesn't explode, then I think it would float, because it would be like a magnet: gravitons attract towards eachother, so a graviton and an antigraviton should repel, and if they are of the same mass, the antigraviton should float.

[Warren]

I'm working on my uranium report, and just finished nuclear energy, power plants, and how to recycle depleted uranium from power plants. Now to start the good stuff, ATOMIC BOMB! After that, I'll talk a little about Hiroshima, then I'll have to write a little about how uranium is used in fusion reactions to make new synthetic elements, and end it all with some brilliant conclusion. *thinks* Oh, I still have to write about the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), and what about modern day nuclear missiles? I'll have to look into that. Man, it's already 8:00, I can't finish it today, so it'll have to be done tomorrow. Buuuut, I have tons of homework tomorrow, damn! I'll do some of it now, then work on uranium report late tonight, so then I can make it 50/50 on homework and uranium report tomorrow.

[edit]Research modern nuclear warheads, and they're pretty much the same as the old atomic bomb, just bigger and they're on rockets and most of them are MiRVs (multiple reentry vehicles), so 1 missile will have many bombs on it.

[James S]

graviton would attract antigravitons by your reasoning. As with magnets, "OPPOSITES ATTRACT" !!! But they're not like magnets because magnets are polar, not two seperate types of forces.

a graviton would attract things towards it, an anti-graviton would repell things away from it.

[Warren]

But an antigraviton would attract other antigravitons. In terms of gravity, opposites repel! So gravitons and antigravitons would repel. And let's also remember, that gravitons are still theoretical!

[edit] I'm getting there...just finished the atomic bomb and starting the story of Hiroshima, then have to do modern nuclear missiles, then Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, then nuclear fusion to make synthetic elements, and finish with conclusion. Did you know that the Hiroshima bomb was the equivalent to 3.28x10^21 TONS OF DYNAMITE!!!! That's A LOT A DYNAMITE! That atomic bomb generated 4.87x10^19 Joules, or 3.04x10^33 MeV, so yeah, a lot .

[Guest]

[Jadam]