The atomic age was born there is no denying that since
that moment the shadow of the atom bomb has been across all our lives all men of
good will earnestly hope that a realistic control of atomic weapons can
and will be achieved.
Meanwhile good sense requires that all of us prepare for any eventuality.
But wisdom demands to
that we take time to understand this force because here in fact is the answer to a
dream as old as man himself a giant of limitless power at man's command
and where was it science found that giant.
In the atom a particle so infinite they small
that it takes over one hundred billion billion atoms to make up the head of a pin
just as other millions
and quadrillions of atoms the tiny building blocks which make up everything in the
world ships and shoes and sealing wax and cabbages and kings.
Although no one has ever seen an atom scientists have learned a great deal about
how they behave
and there are widely accepted theories as to what they are like let's start by
meeting a leading authority on the subject.
Dr Adam now observing the professor himself.
We can see
that his structure resembles in many ways something almost as fast as the atom is
small. The solar system
and there are certain similarities here is the center with electrons in surrounding
orbits. But whereas the planets movement Trons is slightly different.
There are other differences to a whole day. Thank you.
Now the solar system gathering is electrical the electrons which are negative are
attracted by the protons which are positive and vice versa.
But here in the nucleus are other particles with no electrical charge called
neutrons very important characters too as we shall see.
And equally important
when it comes to atomic energy is what scientists call the atoms binding force.
It's a kind of cosmic blue holding the nucleus together.
This then is a single atom. But certainly not all atoms are alike.
There are in nature more than ninety basic elements which is science term for
families of atoms to scientists the atoms of the individual atom families
or elements are identified by number that is the number of protons
or positive charges in their nucleus
and they vary all the way from hydrogen which has just one proton to
oxygen with a protons to gold. He's rich with seventy nine.
Finally on to the heaviest of all natural elements uranium with ninety two protons
now within each element or a family of atoms.
There can be different members each one having the same number of protons
but differing in the number of neutrons the total of an Adam's protons
and neutrons is its atomic weight. The skin natch.
You're old uranium we have you two thirty for you to thirty five
and you to thirty eight.
These different members of the same element
or atom family science calls isotopes some elements ten for instance have a great
many isotopes others like aluminum are lone wolves with just one.
Now most Adams of most elements are content with their lot in life we speak of them
as being stable but others are busy day
and night being what science calls radioactive like radium throwing off powerful
rays along with some of its neutrons
and protons until it actually alters its own nuclear structure
and changes to another family
and then to another until it does become stable at last this spontaneous changing
of elements is called natural transportation its discovery gave man of science an
idea if an atom could change itself.
Why couldn't man change an atom using his bullets the very particles which radium
threw off noted British scientists bombarded nitrogen
and converted it to oxygen. In terms of individual atoms.
This is what happened.
The radium nucleus threw off an alpha particle consisting of two protons
and two neutrons one of the protons was absorbed into the nitrogen nucleus turning
it to oxygen.
This was artificial transmutation man changing the elements.
From
that first experiment others by the thousands followed scientists devised ever more
powerful particle accelerator commonly called atom smashers to.
Ans mute more and more kinds of that are scientifically important
but hardly world shaking them in one nine hundred thirty nine.
Some scientists were experimenting with transmutation of uranium.
What would happen.
They wondered if they fired a neutron at a uranium nucleus already the heaviest in
nature. Why not try.
So they try and the result nuclear fission.
Instead of a minor change the atom split into truly a discovery to change the world
for what had happened
when the uranium atom split was a kind of double miracle of science half of the
miracle concerned that binding force we spoke of before
that kind of cosmic blue which showed the atoms nucleus together we still don't
know all about that binding force yet but we do know it is equivalent to man.
Therefore we may speak of it as having a kind of weight of its own the two Adams
into which uranium atoms split also have binding force
but for some reason it takes less of that glue to hold them together
and in the process of fission a tiny fraction is left over what happens to it it
explodes has energy proving Einstein's theory that mass
and energy are really the same
but we spoke of a double miracle to understand the second one.
Let's slow down that fission a million
or so times a single particles start the reaction splitting the uranium atom
here now is the release of energy as heat and blast.
Here are powerful rays being given are similar to X. Rays. But here.
Here are free neutrons driven out with tremendous speed and provided there.
Sufficient due to thirty five present
but science calls the critical mass those do try bombard other uranium atoms
causing them to split
and split still others the result chain reaction exploding
within two seconds and the force.
It would take Yankee stadium full of dynamite to equaling energy released in the
complete fission of an amount of U two thirty five the size of a baseball
with this discovery at the time the free world faced a war for survival.
It was little wonder the first thought was a weapon.
But how to obtain enough material for even a single bomb.
Only a small fraction of natural uranium is the U two thirty five isotope which
will fission in a chain reaction.
And just separate enough you to thirty five quickly enough seemed all
but impossible.
But the impossible became reality as industry labor science
and the military combine their efforts to build Oakridge where enough you two
thirty five was separated to build the first atomic bomb at Hanford
Washington another Impossible Project proved possible.
When a huge plant was built for the mass production of the artificial element
plutonium.
This process involves what may be called the furnace of atomic energy the reactor
pile. Here is a structure
or pile of graphite block in the reactor placed rods of natural uranium
containing both you to thirty five
and you to thirty eight as you to thirty five begins to fission the graphite slows
down the free neutron and some of them get other you to thirty five that.
Keeping the chain reaction going
but others of those slowed down neutrons get you to thirty eight.
And here's what happened.
Remember we said that you two thirty eight wouldn't support a chain reaction.
However it will capture neutrons from you to thirty five fission
and start a process which converts the YOU TO thirty first to neptunium
then to plutonium plutonium will fission in chain reaction thus the reactor itself
is a source of atomic fuel.
Besides producing plutonium the nuclear reactor makes possible two very important
peacetime uses of atomic energy.
Remember
that the chain reaction process in the reactor creates tremendous heat which
scientists have learned how to control.
That's a reactor may be substituted in many industrial applications where heat is
now provided by coal or petroleum.
But such uses in the foreseeable future are limited.
For one thing a reactor pile must be shielded to protect the workers around it from
dangerous radiation and this shielding adds tremendous weight.
However an atomic energy power plant has already proved feasible the future
supplying of electric power to entire cities is far from impossible.
While nuclear power in locomotives submarine ships
and even very large airplanes may all
but revolutionized future transportation on land sea and air
but perhaps the most valuable byproduct of the nation's reactor piles is
radioactive isotope research has revealed
that many elements not naturally radioactive became so
when placed in a nuclear reactor and the.
These isotopes working as tracers with such measuring devices as a Geiger counter
became invisible detective aiding the cause of science in many different fields
in agriculture isotopes are now used to test such things as the effect of
fertilizers on plant growth
and the proper timing for their use helping to ensure bigger
and better yields from tomorrow's farm industry
isotopes have found literally hundreds of new uses such as the automatic thickness
control of heat aluminum saving hundreds of man hours of labor
and assuring accuracy never before possible in the fields of medicine
and biochemistry isotopes are performing near miracles of diagnosis
and discovery with radioactive sodium doctors are solving more of the seeming
mysteries of heart disease
and circulatory disturbances radioactive phosphorous has been used to locate tumors
in the brain
and greatly simplify operations for their removal Iodine one thirty one finds one
of many uses in revealing conditions of the fire eyes
and there are many more new ways of using isotopes are being discovered constantly
through the tireless work of modern pioneers in such fields as chemistry metallurgy
medicine
and biology truly the super power which man has released from within the Adams
heart is not one but many giant One is the warrior the destroyer.
Another is the engineers seeking to provide fast quantities of energy to run the
world's machines. Another is the farmer helping to better feed two. Morrow's world.
Still another is the healer helping to diagnose and cure the sick
and the last is the research work working on in the fields of pure science to
reveal more of the mysteries of the universe
but are within man's power subject to his command on man's wisdom
on his freeness in the use of that power depends now the future of his children
and his children's children in the new world of the atomic bomb.