THE ATOMIC THEORY AND THE NUCLEAR BOMB

THE ATOMIC THEORY AND THE NUCLEAR BOMB

Knowledge has always been gained by asking questions. Many attempts were made to answer what humans and other substances in the universe were made of. The earliest sources of wisdom were always given from the supernatural and spiritual realms.

The biggest of these questions was what the smallest unit of a substance is. Many like Socrates and other earlier scholars in ancient Greece had to commit suicide because their developments in knowledge in the physical sciences were seen as blasphemes against the gods. After years of evolution, the Greeks divided knowledge into three main branches; the arts, sciences and religion.

In the Bible, the book of Daniel is most acquainted with knowledge. The Bible even predicts in Daniel 12:4 that knowledge will increase. “But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.”A group called the Atomists tried to answer the question of what the smallest unit of a substance is. They tried to separate pure particles into atoms of the same kind and called them elements. This was around the 4th Century BC

Many attempts were made to develop the Atomic Theory further but they could not be authenticated clearly. In 1897, J. J. Thomson discovered that the atom was the smallest unit of every substance but it had other components. He concluded that the atom is not a small article but rather a system of small articles that made up a tiny invisible unit.

In 1911, Rutherford a former student of J. J. Thomson undertook an experiment. He fired tiny alpha particles at solid objects like the gold foil. He found that most of the alpha particles passed through the gold foil whilst some bounced back. He also noted that amongst the alpha particles that went through the gold foil, some of them were deflected at an angle, indicating that the atom had holes in them. Rutherford concluded from the gold foil experiment that an atom is made up of a dense core which he called the nucleus that made the alpha particle bounce back. He also found out that there were other particles orbiting around the atom from a distance away from the nucleus. This later became known as the electrons. The distance between the nucleus and the electrons explained why some of the alpha particles passed through the gold foil. Also, some of the alpha particles were deflected because they hit the electrons.

Later in 1932, it was finally concluded that the atom is made up of three principal sub-units; the electron, protons and neutrons. Whilst the electrons were located a distance from the nucleus, the protons and neutrons could be found in the nucleus of the atom. Whereas the neutrons are neutral, the proton is positively charged and electrons are negatively charged.

Bohr, a Danish scientist identified that electrons moved in a definite path or shell over a definite distance around the nucleus. He also argued that the number of shells an atom had determined its chemical properties.

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In the physical sciences, it is said that the maximum number each shell can hold is given by the formula 2n². Therefore the maximum number of electrons the first shell can hold is 2, the second is 8, the third is 18 etc.
ADVANTAGES OF THE ATOMIC THEORY
It enables scientists to investigate and find out the properties of elements in their simplest form. This gives the opportunity to study and know the properties of such elements in reactions from very simple perspectives. This acts as the foundation on which complex researches can be undertaken.

THE PERIODIC TABLE

The Russian chemist, Dmitri Mendeleev tried to arrange atoms of different elements in a tabular form based on their chemical properties. The table is what has become known as the Periodic Table. As at now, the Periodic Table has 118 elements. The elements are grouped on the Periodic Table based on their electronic configuration or properties of the electrons that move around the nucleus of the atom.

Every element is numbered according to the number of electrons it has. For example Potassium with the chemical symbol K has the number 19 on the Table. It connotes that it has 19 electrons in all and it is arranged as 2 electrons in the first shell, 8 in the second and 9 in the third shell.

In the periodic table, elements with the same number of electrons in the last shell or valence shell are collectively called a group or family and they are all in the same vertical column on the standard periodic table. Also, elements with the same number of shells are called periods and they are arranged on the same horizontal row.

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ADVANTAGES OF THE PERIODIC TABLE
The main advantage of the Period Table is that it gives scientists a pre-prepared document of elements with similar characteristics. This gives a rough idea of the resultant effects in subjecting the various elements to reactions. In other words, it gives a framework within which reactions can be predicted with a level of accuracy.

THE NUCLEAR BOMBS

There are two methods of producing a nuclear bomb. They are:
Fission (to produce the Atomic Bomb)
Fusion (to produce the Hydrogen Bomb)

ATOMIC BOMB

The atomic bomb is the product of nuclear fission. This explodes with the attempt to split the nuclei of the uranium atom, thereby producing another set of atomic nuclei that also react to produce massive heat and fire.

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From the diagram, when the first nucleus is fired into the mass of uranium 235 nuclei, some of them break of forming individual nuclei that produce heat. Other masses of nuclei are produced and they are also divided by the individual nuclei that have broken off. This forms a continuous chain of reactions that produces excessive heat.

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On the battlefield, this is what the nuclear bomb looks like. When the cork is broken, the detonating head sinks violently with great pressure and attempts to divide the uranium nuclei. This divides with great heat and then goes further to detonate and explode the larger mass of uranium lying deep within the bomb

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When the bomb is dropped from an airplane, the bomb detonates in the skies and begins to radiate. As it radiates, it covers a large area of the atmosphere like a cloud of excessively hot smoke. Then when it falls down finally, the excessively hot smoke spreads and begins to burn and destroy anything in sight. The energy produced by the explosion of a sphere about the size of a tennis ball produces an explosion equal to 20,000 tonnes of ordinary bombs.

THE HYDROGEN BOMB

This is the product of nuclear fusion. They can be over 1,000 times more powerful than the atomic bomb. Only six countries are known to have the hydrogen bomb; United States, Russia, United Kingdom, People’s Republic of China, France and possibly India.

It works like the Atomic Bomb but the difference is that the nucleus of the element is made up of a two different atomic nuclei that are fused to form a single heavier nucleus. It works in a way similar to the scientific properties that makes the sun shines. When it is detonated, it goes through two stages; the primary stage and the secondary stage. This produces millions of tonnes of energy that the ordinary bomb would emit.
NUCLEAR WARFARE

Nuclear warfare is the definition of either fighting or avoiding nuclear war. The fear of nuclear bombs is great and mighty because of the mass biological destruction a single bomb can produce.

Nuclear deterrence is warding off potential attacks by a nuclear weapon by threatening nuclear retaliation. There are two ways of nuclear deterrence. One is to maintain a second strike status; that is staying in a point where you can strike and destroy all your enemy’s nuclear weapons completely when he strikes first. Another method of nuclear deterrence is to strike first and destroy all the nuclear weapons of the enemy. Due to this kind of strategy, nations with nuclear bombs keep their locations hidden, particularly in trains and submarines so that the enemy cannot track them easily.

PROTECTION FROM NUCLEAR WARFARE

Missile Defense: This is a method of destroying all nuclear weapons that are fired into a nation’s territory before it lands.
Civil Defense: Finding a method of detecting and evacuating civilians quickly before an attack is launched into a particular area.

From one school of thought, the nuclear weapons are meant to prevent nations from going to war because the fear of the entire humanity being wiped out will force nations to negotiate rather than going to war over simple issues. However, the use or threat of use of nuclear bombs is against the Advisory Opinion issued by the International Court of Justice.

The nuclear non-proliferation treaty is meant to prevent all signatories from developing nuclear weapons. Due to the fear of mass destruction by certain nations tagged as ‘rogue nations’ like Libya, Iran, Yemen, North Korea and Pakistan, a lot of money has been spent to prevent them from trading in nuclear weapons and also undertaking nuclear tests.

Sources:

Wordweb Dictionary
Microsoft Encarta
Wikipedia Dictionary.
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By Samuel Owusu-Yeboah