The Neutron
In Our Time: Science
00:00
Fermi's Nuclear Chain Reaction
Fermi made his own neutron source. He sealed up little ampoules of radioactive radon gas and beryllium, which is what you find in Chadwick's device. And he discovered that the neutron could be made to produce new elements - themselves often radioactive. So where your nuclear reaction releases more neutrons than are put in, you can start to set off a chain reaction,. Which increases in speed. Now every step in this chain also involves the release of a large amount of energy. This could be something that this is a process that could be put to military use in an explosive device.
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