Explosions could be common in reactors were they not computer-controlled
What will be an ideal response?
No American or western European reactor can explode. They can, however, under
certain circumstances make hydrogen gas, which can burn explosively.
Reactors of the RBMK type do need to be computer controlled. The RBMK reactors can
explode, as Chernobyl did—but not in a nuclear explosion. The explosion came from
graphite (carbon) used as a moderator in the reactor that caught fire from the release of
Wigner energy.
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What are the two possible explanations for not seeing something glowing brightly along every line-of-sight?
I) The universe is infinite in size and infinitely old, but dust absorbs starlight from far away stars. II) The universe has a finite number of stars. III) The universe is changing in some way as to prevent us from seeing an infinite number of stars. A) I and III B) II and III C) I and II
A uniform rod (mass = 2.0 kg, length = 0.60 m) is free to rotate about a frictionless pivot at one end. The rod is released from rest in the horizontal position. What is the magnitude of the angular acceleration of the rod at the instant it is 60° below the horizontal?
a. 15 rad/s2 b. 12 rad/s2 c. 18 rad/s2 d. 29 rad/s2 e. 23 rad/s2
Humans have not sent a spacecraft into the interior of the Sun to confirm any models of the interior. What evidence then do we have to support our current ideas about the solar interior?
A) solar neutrinos B) solar flares C) sun spots D) X-ray observations that penetrate the gas E) We have no evidence, just informed guesses.
The Schwarzchild radius of a black hole is that radial distance from the center of a sphere within which not even light can escape. It was first discovered mathematically by Schwarzchild in 1916 after Einstein published his general relativity theory
It can be calculated from a star's mass M as: R = 2GM/c2. If the mass of star G is twice as much as the mass of star H, the average density of star G compared to star H will be A) twice as much. B) half as much. C) four times as much. D) one-fourth as much. E) eight times as much.