Post by Paul.B.AndersenPost by rhertzDr. Serber, 2nd. in command after Oppenheimer, CLEARLY AFFIRMED (in his
1992 book, published once he got a security clearance) that the atomic
bomb WAS COMPLETELY UNRELATED WITH RELATIVITY AND E=mc^2.
He WROTE "Los Alamos Primer" in 1943, to teach recruited scientists
about the power behind atom fission, and MADE CALCULATIONS that were
present in the booklet, giving results close to 170 MeV of KE plus some
radiation. And the calculations were done by using COULOMB'S FORCES in
electrostatic repulsion, once two (or more) new heavy elements were
produced in the atom fission.
Of course there are Coulomb forces that accelerate the parts of
the atom in a fission.
1n + U-235 â Ba-141 + Kr-92 + 3n
The atomic weight of these are well known
1n 1.008664 u
U-235 235.0439299 u
-------------------
236.0525939 u
Ba-141 140.914412 u
Kr-92 91.926156 u
3n 3.025992 u
---------------------
235.866560 u
Lost mass: 0.1860339 u
In a fission the mass of the constituents is less than
the mass of the fissioned atom.
------------------
All physicists knew that in 1939, obviously.
https://www.atomicarchive.com/resources/documents/beginnings/nature_meitner.html
"It seems therefore possible that the uranium nucleus has only small
stability of form, and may, after neutron capture, divide itself
into two nuclei of roughly equal size (the precise ratio of sizes
depending on finer structural features and perhaps partly on chance).
These two nuclei will repel each other and should gain a total kinetic
energy of c. 200 Mev., as calculated from nuclear radius and charge."
Meitner calculated from the electrostatic repulsion that
the kinetic energy of the constituents would be ca 200 Mev.
"This amount of energy may actually be expected to be available
from the difference in packing fraction between uranium and the
elements in the middle of the periodic system."
((atomic mass - atomic number)/(atomic number))1e4
So when you know the 'packing fraction' of an element,
you can find the 'mass defect' (atomic mass - atomic number).
When an element A is split into two elements B and C,
and you know the packing fractions of all of them,
the difference in packing fraction between A vs B and C
(mass of A) - ((mass of B)+(mass of C))
When Meitner found that this mass difference was equivalent to
ca.200 Mev it could only be through E = mc².
You know this, because I told you 5 years ago.
So why do you pretend to be ignorant of the fact that all physicists
(and chemists) at the time took E = mc² for granted?
These are excerpts from Serber's 1992, "Los Alamos Primer":
...................................................
To start with a simpler particle than an atom, letâs look at two
electrons pushed together. If you released them, they would fly apart
with an amount of energy equal to the work that went into pushing them
together. That energy E is given by the formula
E = e²/R (1)
where e is the electron charge, e² is e multiplied by itself, and R is
the distance between the particles. The electrostatic energy thus ends
up as kinetic energy, the energy of motion.
The uranium nucleus contains 92 protons, each of which has the same
charge as an electron, though of opposite sign.
When a uranium nucleus fissions, much of this energy is released as
kinetic energy in the two fission fragments that fly apart.
Suppose that the uranium nucleus broke in half. Each fragment would have
half the charge. The numerator of equation (1) would be a quarter as
bigâa half times a half. Since the volume is proportional to the cube of
the radius, the radius would be smaller by a factor of
2^-3/2 = 1/1.26 = 0.793650794
So each fragment would have an electrostatic energy of about a third of
the total and the two fragments about two-thirds. That leaves a third
left over for the reaction energy of about 170 MeV.
E(U235 atom) = (92)² (1.6E-12)²/10E-13 g.cm^2.s^-2 = = 2,167E-07 erg
......................................
When a uranium nucleus fissions, much of this energy is released as
kinetic energy in the two fission fragments that fly apart.
Suppose that the uranium nucleus broke in half. Each fragment would have
half the charge.
.......................................
Somehow the popular notion took hold long ago that Einsteinâs theory of
relativity, in particular his famous equation E = mc², plays some
essential role in the theory of fission. Albert Einstein had a part in
alerting the United States government to the possibility of building an
atomic bomb, but his theory of relativity is not required in discussing
fission. The theory of fission is what physicists call a nonrelativistic
theory, meaning that relativistic effects are too small to affect the
dynamics of the fission process significantly.
Section 2 of the Primer gives a more exact calculation of the ratio of
the
energy released by the fission of a gram of uranium to the energy
released by the explosion of a gram of TNT.