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[–] 18 points 3 months ago (5 children)

Would splitting one single atom in a non dense environment start a nuclear chain reaction? And why do I ask such questions when it's simply a cartoon to snicker about?

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  • [–] 24 points 3 months ago (1 child)

    no, there are lots of atoms splitting inside your body every second.

    a single U-235 atom's fission, releasing ~200MeV, (30 picojoules), in ideal circumstances could maybe nudge a very small fine grain of sand ( micrograms) enough to see movement (small fraction of a millimetre) under a microscope .

    It takes months of refining to make nuclear fuel that's suitable for sustaining a chain reaction.

    it's an interesting question, I'm glad I did the research checking that the orders of magnitude match!

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  • [–] 4 points 3 months ago (2 children)

    Was that not Albert Einstein’s fear regarding the bomb? That Earth’s atmosphere would simply ignite when exposed to the initial reaction?

    I think our sitting here, snickering at a comic about a biblical nuclear explosion, is proof that it wouldn’t happen.

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  • [–] 3 points 3 months ago

    i believe there was some early speculation that the unprecedented temperature of the Trinity test might ignite the atmosphere, somehow making the nitrogen burn, but that would be a chemical reaction, not a nuclear reaction.

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