Science General Discussion

[Legend]

Extended recording from live stream.

[DD_Bwest]

No ASDS in the mission patch,  could they be doing another RTLS

[DD_Bwest]

Exomars launch on the 14th (middle of the night/early morning for north america).

[Mmm_fish_tacos]

I learned something I didn't know, maybe if it's taught in chemistry? But Uranium will change 14 times over it's lifetime eventually turning into Lead. Pretty cool stuff.

[Xevross]

I learned something I didn't know, maybe if it's taught in chemistry? But Uranium will change 14 times over it's lifetime eventually turning into Lead. Pretty cool stuff.

That's physics. Its different types of radioactive decay. It emits alpha or beta particles in an attempt to become more stable. Lead has the highest proton number (82) of all the stable atoms so everything with more than that emits these particles to try and become lead. Some isotopes of lead are still unstable though. Uranium is quite far away so it has to decay 14 times.

Fun stuff.

[Legend]

I learned something I didn't know, maybe if it's taught in chemistry? But Uranium will change 14 times over it's lifetime eventually turning into Lead. Pretty cool stuff.

Yeah, like the exact opposite of stars turning hydrogen into heavier elements.

[Mmm_fish_tacos]

Yeah, like the exact opposite of stars turning hydrogen into heavier elements.

? They said Uranium was created from an exploding star. At least what we have here on earth.

[Legend]

? They said Uranium was created from an exploding star. At least what we have here on earth.

Yeah the super heavy elements are created from supernovas, but lighter elements are created by fusion in the core.

Hydrogen becomes helium becomes oxygen and carbon becomes neon, sodium, magnesium, sulfur and silicon becomes calcium, iron, nickel, chromium, copper and others.

Wasn't a perfect comparison.

[the-pi-guy]

I learned something I didn't know, maybe if it's taught in chemistry?

Physics or Chemistry.  
Some of that stuff actually ends up getting taught in both.  

[Mmm_fish_tacos]

Physics or Chemistry.  
Some of that stuff actually ends up getting taught in both.  

yeah, I didn't take either class. I know the periodic table was taught in general science class but it didn't go deep into it.

[Xevross]

Yeah, like the exact opposite of stars turning hydrogen into heavier elements.

I'm guessing you're referring to fission here and that's not technically true. Uranium does fission but that only happens when we cause it by firing neutrons at it and it will make much smaller atoms than lead so its not really a decay chain.

? They said Uranium was created from an exploding star. At least what we have here on earth.

That's how all naturally occurring elements (all up to Uranium in the periodic table) are made. Stars are big spheres of hydrogen gas that have such a huge temperature (due to the gravity) that hydrogen atoms get fused together when they hit each other. This makes Helium. When a star is alive it makes a few of the smaller elements by fusion, usually up to about carbon.

As they die the pressure increases vastly, hence the temperature increases and the collisions between particles will have much more energy, so bigger molecules can be fused. Most stars will only form elements up to Iron but the biggest stars, which go on to form things like supernovas, are so dense and have such a huge temperature that they can perform fusion and make elements all the way up to Uranium.

Once these eventually explode all the elements are scattered around and eventually they'll collect under gravity to form new stars and planets and stuff!

Uranium has 92 protons, if you try to make an element with any more then it is extremely unstable and decays almost instantly, hence Uranium is the biggest element we can find on Earth.

[DD_Bwest]

Its used for dating aswell, since it can be measured so well.  I remember it mentioned in physics, chemistry and in the general "science" class of earlier grades.

[the-pi-guy]

Uranium has 92 protons, if you try to make an element with any more then it is extremely unstable and decays almost instantly, hence Uranium is the biggest element we can find on Earth.

Some isotopes of Plutonium have long-ish half lives.  
Uranium 238 has a super super long half life though.  

[Legend]

I'm guessing you're referring to fission here and that's not technically true. Uranium does fission but that only happens when we cause it by firing neutrons at it and it will make much smaller atoms than lead so its not really a decay chain.

Nah didn't mean fission, although that'd be even more of an exact opposite.

Its used for dating aswell

I expected that to lead into a joke!

[Xevross]

Some isotopes of Plutonium have long-ish half lives.  
Uranium 238 has a super super long half life though.  

Yeah some of them do have fairly long half lives but not long enough for us to be able to find them naturally on Earth.

We only know about elements above Uranium because we made them ourselves by shoving protons in and quickly observing them before they decay.

I do really like this area of physics