A18: Elementary Physics and Chemistry

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The idea behind this article is to explain few things about physics, chemistry, and mathematics, if possible, because we suspect many readers need little help to understand our articles, and our books. Now, real life is far from the perfection of particular solutions to differential equations on paper. In fact, for us, scientific reality is very much a mystery! What we know in terms of physics, chemistry, and mathematics does not help us understand what are "life", the "atom", the Universe, and ... most other "things". However, it is our duty to persevere and to continue unveiling the mysteries of our environment. Of course, to start, we have to use the basic knowledge we already have.

The atom is a small, perfect engine consuming enormous quantities of energies--if we consider its small dimensions and very long periods of time--coming from "somewhere". The atom looks like a small planetary system, having a nucleus, and electrons spinning around. The atom has three main components: electrons, protons, and neutrons. The protons and neutrons stick together and they form the nucleus. Almost the entire mass of the atom is the sum of neutrons and protons' weight, because the electrons are very light, and also very mobile. An atom belongs to a chemical element, and we do encourage everybody to find on the Internet the "Periodic Table of Elements" then print it and keep it permanently within your sight: it is very important!

The Periodic Table of Elements--element is another name for atom--has been first put together by a great Russian scientist named Dimitri Ivanovich Mendeleev around 1850s. Another scientist, French this time, named Antoine Laurent Lavoisier was very close to discovering the Periodic Table before Mendeleev did; Lavoisier made, however, great contributions to developing the Table. There are 118 named atomic elements today in our Periodic Table--well, more or less--but the true beauty is, it is still open!

Because we know so little about Universe, it is possible in other Planetary Systems the atomic elements are different than the ones we know on Terra. Now, the neutrons and the protons are very much alike, except the protons hold positive electrical charges, while the neutrons have no electric charges. The protons are build out of three pairs of quarks, but we do not know much, significant details about that aspect. In fact, we do not know sufficient enough about anything. It is very interesting to note that all atomic components vibrate with specific frequencies. That vibratory nature has led to the Quantum Mechanics theory we use today which says, atomic components have a dual nature: of particle and of wave.

Quantum Mechanics is just a theory (in fact, a bunch of theories) and the scientists are working very, very hard trying to prove it right, but things do not look very well--please read our previous articles. In opposition, a "physical law" is a true, proven, possibly even absolute statement. However, all our physical laws are considered laws for our close, local system of spatial coordinates--which is, more or less, our planetary system--with all its specific physical characteristics. We do not know what is beyond the quark, but there are some speculations--please, never misjudge speculations about physics, because any of them could be the very letter of the truth in the near future.

As mentioned, the electrons are mobile atomic components and they move very fast around the nucleus. What keeps them spinning that way, and why they do it is, again, not entirely known. In addition, the electrons group themselves in "orbital layers" named: "s", "p", "d", "f" and "g". Do not bother to remember exactly all those small details; important is the idea: the "layers of electrons" (or "electron orbitals", or "electron shells"). Each layer of electrons groups electrons having the same specific "energy level". The electrons are in fact trapped inside those "energy orbitals" or energy levels. Another name used for the energy levels is "potential pits".

Things are this way: the electrons spin around the nucleus at certain distances from nucleus, and each distance forms a "potential pit". The electrons cannot--easily--jump from one potential pit to another. Each potential pit holds a certain number of electrons: the "s" layer holds only 2; the "p" layer holds 8; "d" holds 18; "f" holds 32; "g" holds 50 (according to the formula [2 * N²] where N is the orbital number). Please be aware the arrangement of the electrons inside the orbitals is rather complex, and it has particularities. Please use the Internet to explore this fantastic topic because it is very interesting.

Anyway, because the electrons spin very fast around the nucleus within an orbital (potential pit) we also name those pits statistically "electronic clouds". Now, we know 118 atomic elements--or something around this figure--but you should be aware that, in nature, atomic elements come as isotopes. That means an atomic element, say H (hydrogen) having 1 proton may come with one proton plus one neutron and it is a hydrogen isotope named "Deuterium". Other hydrogen atoms come with two extra neutrons and that isotope is named "Tritium". Atomic elements have (naturally and artificially) many isotopes: five, nine, or even more.

The atoms are grouped into: metals, nonmetals, and inert--noble gases--elements. Metallic atoms are capable to "let free" electrons; nonmetallic atoms are "sucking" electrons; inert atoms do not give or take electrons and, in consequence, they do not react with other atoms. By giving or taking electrons, different atoms are capable of grouping together and they form the next level of matter structure, which is "compound substances" (substances, or molecules).

Compound substances are structured in two main groups, very important: organic, and inorganic substances. Organic substances are formed on Terra out of only 6 atomic elements: carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorous, and sulfur. Specific to our organic chemistry (on Terra) is, the base element of organic matter--this is us and all living organisms--is carbon. However, organic substances can have a sulfur base, a phosphorous base, or even something else. In fact we have discovered sulfur-based organisms living happily at 350 Celsius degrees, in total darkness and in a rich in sulfur environment right here on Terra! No carbon based organism can live above 50 Celsius degrees--well, there are few exceptions: bacteria. Now, the combinations of those 5 atomic elements around the carbon atoms allow for about one hundred thousand organic substances known, though we do discover new ones each day.

Liquid inorganic substances are structured in a particular way. The most important substance is water, H₂O, which is considered "neutral": it has a "pH" (chemical activity) of 7. Above pH7 there are the acids, and below pH 7 are the bases. For those who do not know, a "base" substance behaves exactly as an acid one; the only difference is they are opposed chemically--in fact the bases and acids "neutralize" each other. As mentioned, the atoms group together to form substances, and that little first group is named a molecule. The molecules interact with each other, and they form the states of the matter: gases, liquids, and solids. If we heat a substance or element to thousands of Celsius degrees, it will form the fourth state of matter named plasma. Both Physics and Chemistry are extremely exciting and interesting domains to study, and they are also capital in importance for any civilization.

Let's take a practical application: the atomic bomb. In order to build an atomic bomb, all we have to do is to put together a certain quantity--named "critical mass"--of a particular radioactive isotope. Anybody could "build" an atomic bomb by joining together by hand pieces of that particular radioactive isotope. Things happen this way. Towards the last elements in the Periodic Table, the atomic elements have very many neutrons in their structure. Some elements are "naturally radioactive", meaning, their atomic structure is unstable, and they radiate neutrons naturally. Because of that natural radiation, few atomic elements change themselves from one isotope down to another, and even into another element over time: for example uranium will become lead (Pb) after thousands of years.

Radioactivity (natural emission of neutrons) has a particularity: there are fast neutrons and slow ones. Fast neutrons are able to fission--break--another atom, and that fission action will result in more fast neutrons being emitted, plus a lot of energy is produced. If we have a certain quantity of a radioactive isotope, we can be certain there is a fixed, statistical number of fast neutrons emitted at any given moment. By increasing the mass, the number of fast neutrons also increases up to a certain limit. That limit is named "critical mass", and it is characterized by a particular number of fast neutrons, high enough to initiate the entire mass into fission: the atomic bomb. Amazingly, the critical mass is not very heavy; it varies between 4 to 20 Kg for various radioactive isotopes. That is all we need, in order to build an atomic bomb.

Now, the delicate problem is in purifying particular radioactive isotopes, because very complex chemical reactions are needed. Why that complex? First of all, if we work with large quantities of radioactive substances we could initiate the atomic bomb right on the laboratory bench. Then, nuclear radiation is a real danger for all living organisms, because those fast neutrons will penetrate and destroy living tissue, since they break/fission the atoms. The purification process is very long, complex, and it works with small quantities. Sometimes the process is reversed, and some isotopes are "enriched" with neutrons, thus going from lighter isotopes to heavier ones. Everything is pure chemistry, and the radioactive isotopes are handled, mostly, as atomic elements embedded into a liquid substance.

Once the purification phase is finished, comes the process of forming the mass. In principle, people form a ball--or something--which is missing a sector, or a part of it. The sector is held separately, at a certain distance. When the despicable atomic explosion is required, the missing sector is brought mechanically in contact with the big chunk of radioactive metal, thus reaching critical mass: the result is a terrible, disastrous explosion.

The next step of "terrestrial ingenuity" is the fusion bomb. In this case the critical mass has the shape of a sphere. Inside the atomic bomb sphere there is another sphere filled with a mixture of hydrogen isotopes. First, the atomic explosion takes place, and that creates temperatures of millions of Celsius degrees. Next, the hydrogen atoms fuse together to form helium atoms, and that process liberates additional energies, thus forming the even more terrible thermonuclear bomb.


We do not enjoy explaining those things; we did it only to help you understand that there is not much intelligence involved in making either the fission or the fusion bombs. More or less, both phenomena happen by themselves in some particular conditions, as is critical mass. Developing the atomic bomb doesn't mean a lot of knowledge about atom; it takes just a certain level of chemical purification technology.

The fission and fusion bombs do not help the development of our civilization, and THEY ARE NOT symbols of advanced civilization. They are just some unfortunate effects, and we have "discovered" them by stumbling over.

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First published on June 14, 2005 
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