why splitting a tiny particle can cause such a devastating blast
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First off, by particle I assume you mean atoms, meaning the nucleus of an atom.
One interesting fact is that splitting an atomic nucleus ***doesn’t*** always release energy, often it would ***consume*** a lot of energy in the process. Generally, any atoms smaller than iron would require energy to split. In fact, if you are able to ***fuse*** together two separate nuclei that are smaller than iron, you actually ***produce*** a lot of energy!
Atoms that are **heavier** than iron will **release** energy when they are split.
There are ways that we can produce energy through fusion and through fission, the splitting or joining of nuclei. What we are basically accomplishing is the same process that occurs inside of stars, or during a star’s death.
If we achieve nuclear fusion, we are releasing some of the energy that is stored as mass inside of protons and neutrons that condensed out of energy from the Big bang. When you look at the mass of nuclei compared to the mass of individual protons and neutrons, you will find that the larger nuclei are less massive than protons and neutrons on their own would be of the same number. This difference in mass is accounted for by binding energy equal to the amount described by e = mc². When the two particles are joined, a little mass is lost and released as energy.
Conversely, when you form atomic nuclei that are larger than iron, that process actually consumes a lot of energy. The larger the nucleus that you try to make, the larger the amount of energy is lost while trying to make it. When a star runs out of fuel and begins to collapse and go supernova, the shockwave of a star’s death is so powerful that there is enough energy going around to form some of these types of elements. Compared to all of the lighter elements, not very much of these atoms get produced, which is why they are so much more rare than elements below iron. Gold, silver, platinum, uranium, are precious elements because they are only formed in the shock waves of dying stars.
Seeing that the nucleus of a uranium atom “stole” energy from the dying star that formed it, splitting it back apart will release the energy that it took to form in the first place.
This is also why generating fusion power would be such a monumental achievement for humanity. Instead of relying on the very rare elements that stole energy from dying stars, we could use the same abundant source of power that the stars use while they are living!
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