During fission an atom is split apart into other things including neutrons. I know this starts a chain reaction because more neutrons are produced, but how is the first neutron (or group of neutrons) obtained and launched?
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Awesome so I’ve actually explained this to a child before! [This](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-uloKbDZ53sA/XBNSYhmyhNI/AAAAAAABaEs/3jRUDIOzkJEdU4SuUaplaRUlu11HumiGACHMYCw/w1200-h630-p-k-no-nu/demon-core-slotin-26?imgmax=1600) is a Demon Core and the guy playing with this wonderful toy is Louis Slotin. The Demon Core was used in the Manhattan Project to develop those good ol WW2 atomic bombs. So here we go: the core is a plutonium sphere a bit larger than a softball, along with two large half-spheres of beryllium that have a cutout in them perfectly matching that of the plutonium ball. It’s important to note that plutonium is extremely radioactive, so it’s already gonna be spitting out neutrons everywhere Willy nilly. Pretty much, this beryllium half sphere on the top would be moved closer and closer to completely surrounding the plutonium. The point at which the two half-spheres lock around that plutonium would be supercriticality, which means that instead of those neutrons spraying all over the room, they’re gonna be bouncing off of that beryllium dome, and reflecting into each other a billion times per nanosecond. This is what actually manipulates the radiation into having a supercritical chain reaction. My boy Louis Slotin in that picture is actually holding the top dome open with a screw driver because he’s a crazy dude (super nelk guy). One day, that screwdriver slipped and the dome enclosed that demon core, causing it to reach criticality a mere foot away from Slotin’s manhood
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