[meteorite-list] Cyclotron

From: Sterling K. Webb <sterling_k_webb_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu, 3 Jan 2008 17:11:34 -0600
Message-ID: <0dc901c84e5d$fc7d3c10$b64fe146_at_ATARIENGINE>

Jerry, List,

Nuclear weapons release copious neutrons
because of a unique property of uranium and
plutonium nuclei: when they encorporate a
stray neutron, they "split" easily into two big
fragments and several more stray neutrons. And
that is the key: several more neutrons, more than
one, 2.2 to 2.7 neutrons, are released! Those multiple
neutrons in turn repeat the event with nearby uranium
and plutonium nuclei, who in turn...

Well, you can see where this is going! The famous
"chain reaction"! Other nuclei do not do both these
things, only 235U and 239Pu. When the chain reaction
completes, the last remaining (and theoretically largest)
population of U or Pu atoms fission, releasing up
to 3 neutrons each, BUT there are no more U or Pu
nuclei left to fission! So, there is a Neutron Flash!!
Trillions of neutrons, all dressed up and nowhere to
go!

A bomb designed to maximize the Neutron Flash
(or use other gimmicks to enhance neutron flux) and
minimize explosive forces is called a Neutron Bomb,
which would have the result of killing lots of folks but
leaving their more durable goods intact (if a trifle
radioactive). An equally great amount of work has
been done to reduce neutrons, too, to thoroughly
trash the enemy's iPods and cellphones, and destroy
their Wii's, without wiping more folks than necessary.

But a nuclear bomb doesn't "shake neutrons loose."
It produces them. In general, you can't get a neutron
by whacking something. But of course, a Chicxulub
level event tends to write its own rules. The ultimate
kinetic energy weapon -- a little slug traveling at a good
fraction of the speed of light -- would likely produce
a lot of things stranger than neutrons, like pions and
assorted imported mesons, so I don't ever say never...


Sterling K. Webb
--------------------------------------------------------------------
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jerry" <grf2 at verizon.net>
To: "Meteorite Mailing List" <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
Sent: Thursday, January 03, 2008 3:54 PM
Subject: [meteorite-list] Cyclotron


Can a nuclear weapon shake neutrons "loose"?
In creating quarks in cyclotrons, don't they "break down" particles to the
subatomic level?
Can't one imagine a natural force [in the strict sense of the word] powerful
enough to administer this kind of force?
A projectile immense enough to devastate a hemisphere of a planet would seem
quite capable of pushing the needle into the red zone?
But that's only imaginative "logic" not mathematics metering out punishment.
Jerry Flaherty

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Received on Thu 03 Jan 2008 06:11:34 PM PST