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What would be the result of splitting just one single atom?
An atomic xplosion is the result of a chain reaction of millions of atome OK but what if it could be controlled to just one single atom? Would it result in a very very very small atomic bomb just powerful enough to blow out a candle, or would there be no noticeable result at all?
4 Answers
- Mr. SmartypantsLv 73 years agoFavorite Answer
You'd never notice one atom splitting, even under a microscope. It would take billions and billions of them even to make a dim glow.
You know what carbon 14 dating is? They can tell how old anything is that's made of wood or any once-living material by determining how many carbon 14 atoms have split over the time it's existed. Meaning that anything you have made of wood or cotton or wool, even your own clothes, has some small amount of carbon 14 in it and those atoms are splitting all the time and you don't even notice it.
- az_lenderLv 73 years ago
No noticeable result at all. There are tiny numbers of radioactive atoms in the atmosphere, ocean, and soil at all times, and you are not affected by their fission.
- Anonymous3 years ago
The atomic bomb is roughly based on E = mcc. We know cc is 9 * 10^16. The atomic mass of an atom is 1.66 * 10^-27. Multiply and E = a really small number so you don’t feel much of it. A candle probably has more energy than an atom splitting.
