Eli5: How did they split an atom?
In: Chemistry
Through a process called fission. Atoms of large elements, like uranium, are unstable and primed to break into smaller pieces (they also undergo natural decay but that’s a separate process). If you hit one of these atoms with a neutron, it will split into smaller atoms and emit some neutrons. If you have enough of these heavy atoms together in the right arrangement, those neutrons will then hit other atoms which will split and emit *more* neutrons which will then hit more atoms and so on.
Fission.
Basically, imagine you’re at a party. There’s a small group of people in the corner, chatting. Say, 3-4 people. This core group is the nucleus. Every person who joins is a neutron. Eventually, that core group of people is going to be so large, it can’t sustain itself, so it breaks off into factions, taking with it some of the conversation and energy.
The split will be uneven, dependent on a number of factors, but, eventually, more and more people will join the groups, favouring the bigger group, until they split apart.
Eventually, every group will reach the smallest it will be, and remains that way until everyone goes home.
Uranium is made up of hundreds of protons and neutrons. They simply made it so big with so much energy it split in 2.
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