|
( Nuclear transmutation)
Nuclear transmutation is the conversion of one chemical element or isotope into another, which occurs through nuclear reactions. Natural transmutation occurs when radioactive elements spontaneously decay over a long period of time and transform into other more stable elements. Artificial transmutation occurs in machinery that has enough energy to cause changes in the nuclear structure of the elements. Machines that can cause artificial transmutation include particle accelerators and tokamak reactors as well as conventional fission power reactors. Nuclear transmutation is considered as a possible mechanism for reducing the volume and hazard of radioactive waste. The term transmutation dates back to the search for the philosopher's stone. In alchemy, it was believed that the transformation of base metals into gold could be accomplished in table-top experiments. The alchemical belief in transmutation was based on a thoroughly wrong understanding of the underlying processes. The realisation that such simple transformations would not be possible began when Lavoisier first identified the chemical elements and Dalton restored the Greek notion of atoms to explain chemical processes. The disintegration of atoms is a distinct process involving much greater energies than could be achieved by alchemists. It was first consciously applied to modern physics by Frederick Soddy when he, along with Ernest Rutherford, discovered that radioactive thorium was converting itself into radium in 1901. At the moment of realization, Soddy later recalled, he shouted out "Rutherford, this is transmutation!" Rutherford snapped back, "For Christ's sake, Soddy, don't call it transmutation. They'll have our heads off as alchemists."[citation needed] Later in the twentieth century the transmutation of elements within stars was elaborated, accounting for the relative abundance of elements in the universe. In their 1957 paper Synthesis of the Elements in Stars,[1] William Alfred Fowler, Margaret Burbidge, Geoffrey Burbidge, and Fred Hoyle explained how the abundances of essentially all but the lightest chemical elements could be explained by the process of nucleosynthesis in stars.
|
Nuclear transmutation Subcategories
Nuclear transmutation Articles
|
| 
