Atoms and nuclear energy

What are molecules, elements, and atoms? To understand nuclear energy, it is important to
first understand atoms, which are the building blocks of matter. What do you suppose
would happen if you took a grain of salt and began to break it up into smaller and smaller
pieces? Sooner or later you would get pieces so small that you wouldn’t be able to see
them. The smallest piece that is still salt is called a molecule. Everything is made of mole-
cules – sugar, salt, tables, chairs, and even the cells of your own body. However, all mole-
cules are not the same. A molecule of sugar is different from a molecule of salt.
Molecules are made of even smaller parts, which are called atoms. Atoms are so small that
it takes millions of them to make a single grain of salt. Today, we know that at least 92 dif-
ferent kinds of atoms occur in nature. More kinds of atoms have been made by
scientists. Each of these different kinds of atoms is a unique element. All of the elements
are ordered in the periodic table.

Combining atoms of different elements – or atoms of the same element – forms molecules.
The kind of molecule depends on which atoms combine. This combining is called a chemi-
cal reaction. In chemical reactions, atoms do not change. Instead, they combine with or
separate from other atoms.
What are the parts of an atom? As small as atoms
are, they are made of even smaller particles. There
are three basic particles in atoms – protons, neu-
trons, and electrons.
Task 1: Look at this picture and label the protons,
electrons and neutrons.
Task 2: How many protons, electrons and neutrons
build this atom? Find the right element in the peri-
odic table.

 
Fill in the gaps: Protons have a _______ electrical charge, neutrons have no electrical
charge, and
electrons have a _______________ electrical charge. ____________ and _____________
together form the nucleus or central mass of the atom. __________________ move around
the nucleus. They are extremely small compared to protons and neutrons.
How can we identify different elements?
Task 3: Look at the person sitting next to you and write down 3-5 words that describe them.
Try to find something unique about them that makes them different from everyone else.

Elements are identified based on only one thing: their number of protons or their atomic
number.
Hydrogen has the atomic number 1 which
means it has one proton. The more pro-
tons an element has, the heavier it is. The
atomic weight tells us how heavy an atom
is. How many protons do oxygen, gold,
silver, iron and calcium have?
What about uranium?

Energy inside the atom

The energy that holds the nucleus of an atom together is the strongest force known in na-
ture. When scientists began to understand the forces that bind atoms together, they won-
dered if a machine could be built to collect this energy. A team of scientists led by Enrico
Fermi built a machine to collect the energy within atoms in 1942 at the University of Chicago.
The machine, a reactor, caused uranium atoms to split and release energy from the nucleus
of the atom. Fission releases energy from the nucleus of the atoms.
 

 
What is a nuclear chain reaction?
Splitting an atom apart releases a lot of energy, especially considering its size. But splitting
one atom does not produce enough heat to be useful. We need to fission millions of atoms to
get enough heat to do work. How can we do that? The answer lies in the two or three neut-
rons that fly off when the first atom is split. If these neutrons hit other uranium-235 atoms,
these atoms also split, each releasing heat and two or three more neutrons. Under the
exactly right conditions, we can get millions of atoms splitting. When that happens, a lot of
energy in the form of heat is released. This chain of events is called a nuclear chain reac-
tion.
 

When a neutron strikes the nucleus of uranium-235, the nucleus becomes

more unstable, vibrates, and then splits apart. All this happens in one millionth of a second.
 

 
In nuclear power plants, the chain reaction heats up water which turns into steam and turns turbi-
nes to generate electricity. The main difference between a nuclear power plant and one that
burns coal is the way the heat to make steam is produced. The rest of the nuclear power plant is
very similar.
How much energy is in uranium fuel?
Energy in uranium is extremely concentrated. A uranium fuel pellet weighs less than 14 grams
which is less than an empty aluminum can. Each pellet can release as much energy as 477 liters
of oil, 1 tonnes of coal, or 2.3 tonnes of wood. This means that there is a very large amount of
energy available to generate heat and make electricity.

Where does uranium come from?

Uranium formed in the supernovae that created our solar system about 4.6 billion years ago. It
was part of the material in space that became the Earth. Uranium is a dense metal element that
holds a huge amount of energy in its nucleus. This element occurs in small amounts all over the
world, even in seawater. Rocks that contain uranium are called uranium ore.

 
Vocabulary Task for Energy, Atoms and Nuclear Energy: Match the words with the defini ons. 

Number Word  
DefiniƟons

  Poten al energy  1. The building blocks of our world, made up of two or more atoms. 

  Atomic number  2. The nega vely charged par cle moving around the center of the 

atom. 
  Nuclear energy 
3. The number of protons of an element. 
  Nucleus 
4. Energy in mo on 
  Molecules 
5. Energy produced when spli ng uranium atoms. 
  Kine c energy 
6. Stored energy 
  Atomic number 
7. The part of the atom containing the protons and neutrons 
TASK 2: Crossword