Finding use in “spacecrafts, pacemakers, underwater systems, electric automobiles, and remote monitoring systems” (source 6), the atomic battery has existed for over a century and is growing to benefit our world. The atomic battery generates electricity from a nuclear reaction, utilizing the radioactive decay of specific elements. The atomic battery is certainly not meant for households or as a source of common battery use, but rather powerful equipment needing to run for long, extended periods. Atomic batteries are quite expensive, but can provide an immense amount of energy that will conduct over an extremely long life period. This paper will explain the basic functioning of an atomic battery, investigate a brief history of the atomic battery, and also examine one aspect of energy conversion within atomic batteries, thermal converters.
First, we will discuss the basic principles of how an atomic battery works. As previously mentioned, an atomic battery utilizes energy from a simple nuclear reaction to generate electricity. Nuclear reactions occur as a result of the natural decay of radioactive isotopes. “Isotopes are variations of a given element, differing in the number of neutrons in the nucleus while maintaining a consistent number of protons (source 24).” A good example of this is two carbon isotopes, carbon-12 and carbon-14. Both have six protons in the nucleus of their atoms, but carbon-14 has eight neutrons in its nucleus whereas carbon-12 has six neutrons in its nucleus. An isotope is considered radioactive when the nucleus begins spontaneously emitting subatomic particles, the most common of which are known as alpha, beta, and gamma particles. Describing these particles more becomes unnecessary, other than the fact t...
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...which moves a magnet back and forth through a coil of wire to generate electrical current in the wire. To prevent physical wear the piston does not actually touch the inside of the mechanism. This generator is mostly used in NASA projects.
The atomic battery has an impressive and energetic potential for the future. With numerous technologies to explore and develop further, there is great potential for the atomic battery. Drawbacks including high financial cost, academic demand, and exposure to radioactive materials may seem to inhibit development of atomic batteries, but in the reality of our energy demands this may be the next logical step. We may all but guarantee that society will experience continued and expanded use nuclear energy and atomic batteries to help meet our energy demands. With this, I hope that it will be utilized in a safe and sensible way.
The "2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals" held that those business practices that have had a disparate impact effect on the older workers are now considered to be actionable under one national anti-discrimination law (Hamblett, 2004). The case does reaffirm a second Circuit precedent that had been set but which is at odds with what a majority of federal courts have held. The appeals court supported the idea that a layoff plan had been properly brought under the The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA) although the company did not have the intention of discriminating.
What Nuclear power has the ability to do is get a lot of power in a little amount of space. “Roughly 1.6 billion people live without access to electricity, and 2.4 billion rely on traditional biomass because they have no access to modern fuel.” (General Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei) With nuclear power put into these countries that are without power we can have it to where electricity will be accessibility to everyone. By having power accessible to everyone we can accomplish so much more and unlock more possibilities in our world today.
The Atomic Age represents the most epic era and composed of diverse controversial issues in the human history. In the late 1945, President Harry Truman informed to drop two atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. These two bombs quickly yielded the surrender of Japan and the end the World War 2. However, the impact of it led us to debate whether this decision was actually right or so. First off, it would be hard to imagine how Japan would have been surrendered without the atomic bomb. Therefore to save many American lives, President Truman believed that it was his duty to end the war as soon as possible. But the bombs took away innocent lives and killed civilians indiscriminately. “Atomic Age America” written by Martin
Similar examples can be found in physics. Prior to the Michelson-Morley Experiment of 1887, which showed the constant speed of light, the experiments of FitzGerald and Lorentz, which explained the constant speed of light as the contraction of bodies and slowing of clocks, and the subsequent conclusion by Einstein that electromagnetic waves do not require a medium, scientists felt that light required a medium, and thus one was invented-ether (Hawking). These experiments demonstrate yet another aspect of a personal point of view in the pursuit of knowledge; the fact that despite the assumptions a personal point of view brings into a study, such as FitzGerald’s and Lorentz’s assumption that ether did, in fact, exist, knowledge can still be gained from such a study. Despite their assumption, they contributed, through their experiments, the knowledge that light does travel at a set speed. Thus, even when associated with false assumptions brought into an experiment, personal points of view are not always negative.
After the United States developed the atomic at the end of World War II, interest in nuclear technology increased exponentially. People soon realized that nuclear technology could be used for electricity, as another alternative to fossil fuels. Today, nuclear power has its place in the world, but there is still a lot of controversy over the use of nuclear energy. Things such as the containment of radiation and few nuclear power plant accidents have given nuclear power a bad image. However, nuclear power is a reliable source of energy because it has no carbon emissions, energy is available at any time, little fuel is needed for a lot of energy, and as time goes on, it is becoming safer and safer.
To understand what a radioactive isotope is a basic understanding of the atom is necessary. Atoms are comprised of three subatomic particles : protons, neutrons and electrons. Protons and neutrons bind together to form the nucleus of the atom, while the electrons surround and orbit the nucleus. Protons and electrons have opposite charges and therefore attract one another (electrons are negative and protons are positive, and opposite charges attract), and in most cases the number of electrons and protons are the same for an atom (making the atom neutral in charge). The neutrons are neutral. Their purpose in the nucleus is to bind protons together. Because the protons all have the same charge and would naturally repel one another, the neutrons act as "glue" to hold the protons tightly together in the nucleus.
A battery is a device which converts chemical energy into electrical energy. A battery usually consists of two or more cells connected in series or parallel, you can also have a single cell battery. All cells consist of a positive electrode, and a negative electrode. An electrolyte is a liquid substance capable of conducting electricity. In this substance one of the electrodes will react producing electrons, while the other will except electrons. When the electrodes are connected to a device to be powered, called a load, an electrical current flows.
Armature - Sometimes called a rotor. This is the part that spins. The armature can be either a permanent magnet or an electromagnet.
is connected to a shaft, which spins a disc. The disc has holes in it
An American billionaire, industrialist, and ingenious engineer, Tony Stark suffers a severe chest injury during a kidnapping in which his captors attempt to force him to build a weapon of mass destruction. He instead creates a powered suit of armor to save his life and escape captivity. He later uses the suit and successive versions to protect the world as Iron Man. Through his corporation, Stark Industries, Tony has created many military weapons, which have been integrated into his suit, helping him fight crime. All of this powered by the Arc Reactor. The Arc Reactor that powers the Iron Man suit takes a lot of criticism by the science community, but some believe there is some possibility. The question is, is Arc Reactor technology possible?
The invention and development of the battery would have to be one of the most significant in human history. Without batteries, the world would be a very different place. Everything would be plugged in and nothing would be mobile. There are many types of batteries that work in many different ways, but they all have the same common goal of making lives easier. Some examples of these batteries are lithium-ion, lead-acid, and nickel-cadmium.
To begin, nuclear power is produced by nuclear fission, which is the splitting of an atom to start a chain reaction (“11 Facts”). This chain reaction produces massive amounts of heat. Nuclear reactors take advantage of this heat by pumping water into the reactor, which in turn produces steam. The steam then becomes pressurized through a pipeline and exits into a turbine (“How do Nuclear”). The pressurized steam causes the turbine blades to spin, producing power which is linked to a generator for use in the main power lines. When the steam passes the turbine blades, it goes past cooled pipes and condensates (“How do Nuclear”). After the condensation process is finished and the steam reverts back to water, it is pumped into the reactor again, thus completing the process of producing nuclear-based power.
A battery is a device that converts energy into electricity by storing electrical energy thru chemical reactions. In a battery, there are three major components [4]. The first component of a battery is a terminal called anode which is an electrode through which electric current flows into [2]. The second component of a battery is a terminal is called cathode which is an electrode through which electric current flows out [2]. These two terminals can be found at each end of a battery. The third component of a battery is called the electrolyte which is an ionic compound(s) that are used to separate these two terminals, send electrons and used to neutralize charges that build-up in the chemical reaction processes [2].
Nuclear energy is generated by a process called fission. Fission occurs within the reactor of a nuclear power plant when a neutron is fired at an atom of uranium causing it to split and release subsequent neutrons.1 These are able to crash into other uranium atoms causing a chain reaction and releasing a great deal of heat energy.
...placing a soft metal core (commonly an iron alloy) inside a coil of wire through which electric current passes in order to produce a magnetic field. The strength and polarity of the magnetic field changes depending on the magnitude of the current flowing through the wire and the direction of the current flow. While there is sufficient flow of current, the core behaves like a magnet; however, as soon as the current stops, the magnetic properties also disappear. Modern devices that make use of electromagnets are the televisions, telephones, computers and electric motors.