The thread regarding programmed annihilation suggested this concept. In Physics, there exist two basic sub-atomic particles, the Electron and the Positron (or Anti-electron). They are identical in weight, and therefore potential energy conversion content. Positrons are relatively scarce, but Electrons are ever-present everywhere. If an Electron and a Positron happen to meet together, POOF! They both disappear in a burst of pure energy; this process is called "Pair Annihilation". Think of it as something like a married couple who finally yield to that process, which often takes very long to reach. Might the process of Marriage have been introduced as a clandestine form of Programmed Annihilation? Frank
OK, when they collide, they give off a burst of pure energy. Could we use that concept to create an alternate source of energy to power our needs?
@Shirley Martin Good question! And well thought-out, as well. Unfortunately, Positrons are exceptionally unstable because of the prevalence of Electrons everywhere, and the fact that pair annihilation results almost always in the energy being emitted as Gamma Rays, ionizing radiation which cannot be "harnessed" as usable energy. Fortunately, other similar "annihilations" are already being put to use very extensively to produce Electric Power. That is done by the "nuke plants" always being spoken of. Think of them as a means (which they are really) of taking an atomic bomb, which expends all it's energy in a minute fraction of a second, and "slowing it down" so that the reaction continues under careful control for many months, even years, before the reacting materials are "worn out". Frank
Yeah, but still the Electron is what amazes me! At only 1/1840 the mass of a Proton, it orbits every atomic nucleus in varying numbers, the Hydrogen atom requiring only one Proton in its nucleus with the lone Electron orbiting, providing a Negative charge to balance the Positive charge of the Proton. Now the Uranium nucleus has 92 Protons in its nucleus, but it has 92 Electrons in orbit to balance the charge of its Protons! Howevah...if you don't have a balance between the charges, then the Atom becomes an ION ! Right, Frank? Hallington
A "slowed-down" nuclear burst has been around since 1942, when Enrico Fermi proved the idea in an "atomic pile" or "nuclear reactor" at the University of Chicago. An atomic bomb is a nuclear reactor without the control rods to slow it down! Hal
@Hal Pollner Very true! Now and then, one comes across a Hydrogen atom containing a Neutron, known as "Heavy Hydrogen" or more properly Deuterium.. That stuff was suspected of being a key ingredient to making a bomb by the Germans, so they confiscated it, combined with Oxygen, of course, as "Heavywater", from the hydroelectric plant at Norsk, Norway: The Vemork Hydroelectric Plant in 1935. The heavy water was produced in the front building (the Hydrogen Production Plant The plant was destroyed by Allied forces to prevent the Germans from obtaining the elusive Deuterium. Water containing Deuterium instead of regular Hydrogen atoms is called Deuterium Oxide. Yet a heavier Hydrogen atom exists, in even scarcer yet amounts, known as Tritium. While Deuterium is not radioactive and is harmless, Tritium is radioactive, and is the special form of Hydrogen which can combine in the Fusion Reaction, the basis for the H-bomb. Tritium glows in the dark. I have a handgun with Tritium night-sights! Frank
Water with "Heavy Hydrogen" (Deuterium) is called "Heavy Water" and is used as a moderator in some nuclear reactors. Regular water is H2O, while Heavy Water is H22O. with the H2 being Deuterium. You can tell the difference in weights between a quantity of Heavy Water compared to conventional water, because the hydrogen atoms are Twice As Heavy! There are 8 Protons in an atom of Oxygen, and 1 Proton in an atom of Hydrogen, therefore an H2O Water molecule has 10 Protons. But a water molecule using Deuterium has 11 Protons, making heavy water 10% heavier than the regular stuff. When Deuterium(H2) and Tritium(H3) are fuzed under tremendous heat, they form an atom with 5 Protons, which is equal to an atom of Helium WITH ONE PROTON TO SPARE, and this Proton is converted to Energy, which is the basis for the operation of the Hydrogen Bomb! So what is the source for this fusion within an H-Bomb? An Atomic Bomb! So inside every H-Bomb is an A-Bomb which serves as the thermal trigger for the H-Bomb! Hal 9000
@Hal Pollner Pretty much what happens. Care to cuss & discuss the Teller-Ulam configuration? They made that all sound so terribly complex, as though teller and Ulam had cracked some invincible code of Physics. Maybe it was to defer or thwart foreign understanding of their scheme which seemed to make the H-bomb work. The Mike One shot was I think the first H-bomb. The whole thing was bigger than a New York apartment building, using LIQUIFIED Tritium gas, which required big powerful compressors, insulated containment vessels, specially designed valves, solenoids and such capable of operating at the extremely low temperatures involved. Soon enough, it was proposed that a solid material containing Deuterium might work: Lithium Deuteride. They tried it. It worked. Eliminated liquified gas at high pressure and low temperature, placed the H-bomb package into a MUCH smaller package, easily carryable by giant B-52 bombers. I detect no clandestine "copy" or plagiarism in your writings, suggesting you have a far deeper technical background than you have so far revealed. Since all will read this, and many might query you, perhaps revealing more of your career invests now might help us appreciate more the impact of your post previous! Frank
You're on, Frank! I DO have a deeper technical background than I have so far revealed, but in a limited field! My BSEE degree did not include studies in the history of the Manhattan Project, nor studies on the seperation of fissionable isotopes from base elements, nor the construction of an Atomic Bomb. Because I found these subjects so interesting, I bought books, bought declassified documentary films as well as Hollywood versions of the Manhattan Project, and did a lot of Web surfing of those subjects. Here are some of my sources: Books: "Manhattan Project" "Day of Trinity" "Now it Can Be Told" "The Los Alamos Primer" "The Making Of The Atomic Bomb" "Brighter Than A Thousand Suns" Movies: "The Atomic Bomb Movie: Trinity And Beyond" "Hiroshima" "Oppenheimer" "Day One" I'm also knowledgeable about simpler, but spectacular scientific apparatus, having built Tesla Coils, Van de Graaff Generators, and other High-Voltage machines. These have been my hobbies since High School. In fact, my first Tesla Coil was pumped by a vibrating Model T Ignition Coil! I have these movies about Nikola Tesla: "Tesla, Master of Lightning" "The Secret of Nikola Tesla" (I also have a Geiger Counter and a Radioactive Sample that emits alpha Particles and Gamma Rays.) Incidentally, the 1954 H-Bomb that used Lithium Deuteride as fuel (Castle Bravo of the Crossroads series of tests) was predicted to yield 6 Megatons, but yielded 15 Megatons! The first H-bomb test (1952) used liquid Deuterium, as you said, and vaporized the island of Elugelab. I like talkin' about these subjects, man! Hal
Hey Frank... The Nazis DID manage to get a few thousand gallons of heavy water aboard a ferry, which was booby-trapped by allied agents, blowing out the hull below the waterline, causing the ferry to sink immediately. Hal