im not asking google how do nukes work

[walsh155]

how do they work

[Syntho-sis]

E=mc^2

 

Simply put.

[Sisyphus]

With SCIENCE!

[ydoaPs]

how do they work

 

It's a simple enough question that I'd normally answer, but I don't like your attitude.

[Cap'n Refsmmat]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_weapon_design

 

I seriously doubt walsh will get his hands on some fissile plutonium, and this is common-knowledge stuff, so here you go. There's a lot of info there.

[insane_alien]

it probably took more time and effort to make that post than to google it and find out for yourself. and finding out for yourself is so much more satisfying.

[walsh155]

thank you for all that info plutonium is deadly

[insane_alien]

only if you eat it.

 

its primarily an alpha emitter so as long as it stays outside your body and it isn't a critical mass then there isn't much harm it can do.

[Mr Skeptic]

I thought plutonium was relatively safe to eat, as far as toxic heavy metals go. Like if you ate a pellet of plutonium most of it would pass right through the digestive system. At that point it would be a toxic heavy metal, and I doubt the radioactivity would matter much compared to the toxicity. Breathing plutonium particles on the other hand would be much nastier, or eating plutonium compounds.

[dr.syntax]

only if you eat it.

 

its primarily an alpha emitter so as long as it stays outside your body and it isn't a critical mass then there isn't much harm it can do.

 

REPLY: When you say Alpha emitter you mean an alpha particle don`t you ? An Alpha particle is 2 protons and 2 neutrons fused together, the nucleus of a helium atom, correct ? Please explain to me how the emission of this large particle is safe. Is it not likely to split any atom it hits into 2 or more parts. Say a carbon atom into 2 lithiums for instance. How can this not be very harmful. I would not bring it up except it is contrary to everything I thought I knew about the harmfulness of radiation. ...Dr.Syntax

[DrP]

It's fairly safe because when it has been emited, it doesn't get very far without crashing into something. Even a sheet of paper will block an alpha particle. Personally, I wouldn't want the lining of my digestive track being the thing that blocks them though.

[insane_alien]

the top layer of your skin is dead, it is also thick enough to stop a ver large proportion of the alpha particle radiation.

 

an alpha particle will not cause fission(paricularly in the lower atomic masses) because it will never get close enough to the nucleus to actually hit it. it will change its direction and velocity by virtue of an electrostatic repulsion and rip a few electrons off but it won't cause fission.

[dr.syntax]

the top layer of your skin is dead, it is also thick enough to stop a ver large proportion of the alpha particle radiation.

 

an alpha particle will not cause fission(paricularly in the lower atomic masses) because it will never get close enough to the nucleus to actually hit it. it will change its direction and velocity by virtue of an electrostatic repulsion and rip a few electrons off but it won't cause fission.

 

REPLY: But still , a couple follow up questions : How can something as thin as that dead layer of skin stop what I thought was at least a fairly fast moving particle such as an alpha particle emitted during radio active decay ? Also, how can this thin layer stop such a particle if it is not hitting any thing as you said it`s electrostatic forces allowed it to do? Also,would not this alpha particle very rapidly grab from any available source [ the atoms that make up what ever tissues it passes through ] THOSE TWO ELECTRONS required to fill that first electron shell . Stop and think about it a moment. You have 2 bare naked protons fused together requiring 2 electrons to balance those 2 protons to make it an electrically balanced atom, and also the octet rule and that force also at work here, except in this unique atom it would be called the doublet rule. the force that compels atoms to fill their outer electron shells. Does an alpha particle have the strongest possible electronegativity value? It`s power of attraction for electrons. So if nothing else, it is going to be setting in motion, two sets of free radical chain reactions for every alpha particle that passes through any tissues. I do not see how these alpha particles can be as relatively harmless as you suggest they are. Your Friend, Dr.Syntax

[Moontanman]

Alpha particles are not very penetrating, they are large slow moving particles.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpha_particle

 

Because of their charge and large mass, alpha particles are easily absorbed by materials, and they can travel only a few centimeters in air. They can be absorbed by tissue paper or the outer layers of human skin (about 40 micrometers, equivalent to a few cells deep).

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Merged post follows:

Consecutive posts merged

how do they work

 

Very well thank you!

[Mr Skeptic]

On a different note, your post is the first result on google for "im not asking google how do nukes work". Rather than being only in the hands of Google, your post is now visible to the entire internet, as well as google. Only difference is that now SFN has your IP address rather than Google, and that it is visible to the whole internet.

[jdurg]

REPLY: But still , a couple follow up questions : How can something as thin as that dead layer of skin stop what I thought was at least a fairly fast moving particle such as an alpha particle emitted during radio active decay ? Also, how can this thin layer stop such a particle if it is not hitting any thing as you said it`s electrostatic forces allowed it to do? Also,would not this alpha particle very rapidly grab from any available source [ the atoms that make up what ever tissues it passes through ] THOSE TWO ELECTRONS required to fill that first electron shell . Stop and think about it a moment. You have 2 bare naked protons fused together requiring 2 electrons to balance those 2 protons to make it an electrically balanced atom, and also the octet rule and that force also at work here, except in this unique atom it would be called the doublet rule. the force that compels atoms to fill their outer electron shells. Does an alpha particle have the strongest possible electronegativity value? It`s power of attraction for electrons. So if nothing else, it is going to be setting in motion, two sets of free radical chain reactions for every alpha particle that passes through any tissues. I do not see how these alpha particles can be as relatively harmless as you suggest they are. Your Friend, Dr.Syntax

 

In addition, the atoms which are left over after Pu has alpha decayed end up being two electrons rich. While the alpha particle may strip electrons off of other atoms, those electron rich atoms will donate the two electrons fairly quickly as well.

 

Still, I would not ingest plutonium ever. I really wouldn't be too worried about the alpha radiation (though the lining of your digestive tract would suffer some pretty nasty damage and colon cancer would pretty much become a certainty), but the gamma radiation that is also emitted would cause some nasty damage to your body.

[insane_alien]

First off, i'm going to make a few comments about your posting style, please, don't take it as a personal attack or anything, just some suggestions that would make your posts better.

 

1/ you don't need to start off with 'REPLY:' we can see it's a reply and its a bit redundant and annoying.

 

2/ paragraphs. they are wonderful things indeed. a few little blank lines in your post would do wonders for the readability of the post. i'm not long awake and finding it exceedingly difficult to read you post. not because of content but formatting.

 

i would be grateful if you introduced these changes to future postings. now, onto the analysis!

 

How can something as thin as that dead layer of skin stop what I thought was at least a fairly fast moving particle such as an alpha particle emitted during radio active decay ?

 

alpha particle carry a large electric charge, they are moving fairly fast considering normal human experience, but not so fast considering radiation. they interact with nearly every particle the get within a few micro meters of. even gasses will slow them down.

 

when they reach a solid such as skin, there's plenty of particles for them to interact with and lose energy to. and since the interactions are so strong due to the high charge, they lose all their energy very fast.

 

Also, how can this thin layer stop such a particle if it is not hitting any thing as you said it`s electrostatic forces allowed it to do?

 

not making direct particle to particle contact does not mean that there is no interaction. pretty much the same thing happens when you 'touch' something. the molecules in your hand aren't actually contacting the molecules of the surface but the electron shells are repelling each other from a distance.

 

Also,would not this alpha particle very rapidly grab from any available source [ the atoms that make up what ever tissues it passes through ] THOSE TWO ELECTRONS required to fill that first electron shell .

 

once it stops, yes. before that its moving too fast to capture electrons from stationary atoms into its orbitals. on its way how ever, it will dislodge a few thousand electrons from their parent atoms.

 

Does an alpha particle have the strongest possible electronegativity value?

 

well you can get a naked nucleus of any element really as the electrons don't contribute much to nuclear stability. so the nucleus of a greater atomic number element like uranium or so would be more electronegative.

 

I do not see how these alpha particles can be as relatively harmless as you suggest they are. Your Friend, Dr.Syntax

 

they are immensly destructive if they occur in living tissue. about 20 times more dangerous than other types of radiation.

 

however, the dead skin you're covered in is dead. it can't form cancer as it doesn't reproduce or live. the only thing that could happen is with a truely immense alpha dose it could heat up enough to burn you.

Edited November 1, 2009 by swansont
fix quote tag

[swansont]

they are immensly destructive if they occur in living tissue. about 20 times more dangerous than other types of radiation.

 

20x more damaging than gammas and betas, twice as damaging as neutrons.

[insane_alien]

ah forgot about neutrons(despite me just doing an asignment on neutron capture cross section)